/» 


#** 


^t  t\it  ^ltw%tai  ^ 


%/; 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


%. 


^ 


Presented    by\T\rs.(j\T-x^^o\cX  S^VAVAoV. 


by 

BV  4832  .B78  1865 
Bowen,  George,  1816-1888 
Daily  meditations 


■mmi£t. 


'<f^,*i»  •%; 


L*.  .4'* 


if-. 

•^1^ 

'."'"  .  "N 

?:7^M 

'*^'    A  wJii 

#." 

^.-.■^"'ff^ 

••  ', 

^'^''*/4^*  "^ 

fc^ 

>l^.,.  .'J 

^^.^••i 


^1 


^ 


^ 


■\ 


* 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS 


BY   THE  y 

Ret.   GEORGE   BOWEIST, 

AMERICAN  MISSIONARY,  BOMBAY,  INDIA. 


"  Sanctify  them  through  thy  truth  ;  thy  word  is  truth.' 


PHILADELPHIA: 
PRESBYTERIAN   PUBLICATION   COMMITTEE, 

1334  CHESTNUT  STREET. 
NEW   YORK  :    A.    D,    F.   RANDOLPH,   770   BROADWAY. 


-:e..<t3i-^!^5^l^^5i*w^j)c i- 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1865,  by 

WM.  L.  HILDEBURN,  Treasurer, 

in  trust  for  the 

PRESBYTERIAN   PUBLICATION   COMMITTEE, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Cotirt  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 


Greatly  though  the  Church  of  this  clay,  amid  all  its 
activities,  lacks  deep  heart  experience  of  religion,  yet 
there  are  many  who  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteous- 
ness, who  desire  a  fuller  work  of  the  Spirit  in  their 
souls.  Conscious  of  poverty  of  soul,  they  long  for 
manna  from  heaven.  To  such,  this  volume  will  prove 
a  grateful  gift.  It  is  not  without  good  reason  added  to 
the  number  of  the  books  that  claim  the  attention  and 
the  time  of  the  Christian.  The  reader  will  here  find 
deep,  precious  and  suggestive  thoughts  made  vivid  by  a 
glowing  imagination  and  striking  inferences.  If  de- 
siring a  higher  Christian  life,  and  willing  to  meditate 
and  pray,  he  will  be  edified  by  the  fruits  of  a  profound 
study  of  God's  word  and  of  a  rich  experience  of  the 
workings  of  the  Spirit.  His  faith  Avill  be  strengthened 
by  contact  with  the  Author's  faith,  and  his  zeal  be  kin- 
dled by  his  passionate  jealousy  for  the  glory  of  God. 


4  EDITOR  S    PHEFACE. 

Of  the  work,  an  eminent  New  York  pastor*  says,  "  It 
is  a  book  of  rare  merit,  marked  by  deep  piety,  insight 
into  the  Scriptures,  original  genius  and  uncompromising, 
directness.     I  know  of  no  book  of  its  class  equal  to  it." 

The  Author,  the  Rev.  George  Bowen,  formerly  of 
New  York,  has  been  for  eighteen  years  a  missionary  in 
India.  He  issued  a  Volume  of  Meditations  at  Bom- 
bay, where  there  is  a  considerable  English  community. 
This  volume  was  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  Commit- 
tee by  the  Rev.  William  Wallace  Atterbury,  and  by 
him,  at  the  request  of  the  Committee,  revised,  new  pa- 
pers by  Mr.  Bowen  being  inserted  in  the  place  of  some 
that  seemed  of  less  merit.  The  volume  has  been  stereo- 
typed, and  is  now  given  to  the  Christian  public.  Let 
the  reader,  as  he  reads,  pause  to  meditate,  and  ask  the 
blessing  of  the  Spirit  upon  the  truth. 

J.  W.  D. 

*  Rev.  William  R.  Williams,  D.  D. ;  and  in  this  judgment  the  Rev. 
Thomas  H.  Skinner,  D.  D.,  than  whom  no  one  is  more  competent  to  judge 
of  a  spiritual  work,  concurs. 


DAILY  MEDITATIONS. 


January  1. — "And  as  thy  days,  so  shall  thy  strength  be. — Deuteron- 
omy xxxiii.  25. 

Tliis  probably  means  tbat  time,  instead  of  diminishing  the 
strength  and  crippling  the  energies  of  the  people  of  God,  shall 
be  commissioned  to  convey  unto  them  increase  of  spiritual 
strength,  and  to  render  them  day  by  day,  month  by  month, 
year  by  year,  more  vigorous  and  more  victorious  in  the  conflict 
with  sin,  more  energetic  in  faith,  more  sublime  in  patience 
and  fortitude,  more  meek  and  lowly  of  heart,  more  fervent  in 
admiration  of  Christ,  more  self-denying  and  devoted  in  his 
service,  more  generous,  more  pitiful,  more  useful. 

In  this  view  they  are  delightful  words  to  greet  us  on  the 
threshold  of  a  new  year ;  and  we  accept  them  as  a  sweet  and 
blessed  omen.  Bring  us  strength,  ye  coming  days,  strength 
to  glorify  our  Master,  to  resist  evil,  to  accomplish  good,  to 
hasten  heavenward ;  and  ye  shall  be  most  welcome. 

Note. — We  aim  in  these  remarks  rather  to  indicate  the  lines  of  thought, 
and  to  make  ready  the  materials  of  meditation,  than  to  explore  the  galle- 
ries of  wealth  that  underlie  our  texts.  The  reader  will,  we  trust,  bear  in 
mind  his  share  of  responsibility. 

7 


O  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

January  2.—"  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God  which  teaeheth  thee  to  profit."— 
Isaiah  xlviii.  17. 

Sometimes  tlie  soul  gets  angry  with  tlie  instruction  and 
says,  "  I  will  not  believe  that  this  is  from  the  Lord  my  God. 
The  Lord  my  God  is  one  that  loveth  me  and  taketh  pleasure 
in  granting  the  desires  of  my  heart.  But  this  providence  is 
rude  and  withering;  my  hopes  are  blasted,  my  expectations 
mocked,  my  trust  belied.  What  could  mine  enemy  do  to  me, 
more  severe,  more  crushing,  than  this  that  has  ccme  upon  me  ? 
And  shall  I  be  told  that  it  is  the  Lord  my  God  teaching  me 
to  profit  r 

"  Yes,  it  is  the  Lord  thy  God.  As  many  as  I  love,  I  rebuke 
and  chasten.  Thine  enemy  would  never  have  done  to  thee 
what  I  am  doing.  Thine  enemy  might  indeed  afflict ;  but  not 
for  thy  profit.  It  might  be  difficult  to  distinguish  between  a 
wound  inflicted  by  an  assassin,  and  an  incision  made  by  a  sur- 
geon ;  but  the  results  would  soon  show  the  world-wide  difference 
between  the  two  acts.  It  was  needful  that  I  should  bring  upon 
thee  the  very  thing  most  intensely  deprecated  by  thee.  There 
was  no  need  of  sending  trials  for  which  thou  wert  prepared, 
and  which  had  no  power  to  disguise  me  from  thee  at  all. 
Thou  wouldest  have  greeted  them  laughingly,  and  said,  I 
know  that  the  Lord  my  God  is  coming  to  me  in  these. 
Therefore  I  have  taken  a  thicker  shroud ;  but  still,  if  thou 
wilt  hearken,  the  well-known  voice  will  come  to  thee  out  of 
the  midst  thereof,  saying,  'I  am  the  Lord  thy  God  that 
teaeheth  thee  to  profit.'  ^' 

"  But  do  I  need  to  be  still  taught  my  dependence,  my  sin- 
fulness, my  misery ;  the  sole  righteousness  of  Christ ;  the  sov- 
ereignty of  God ;  the  vanity  of  the  world  ?  Have  I  failed  to 
profit  by  past  instructions?  Is  all  my  past  experience  in 
vain  V 

"  Not  in  vain.  It  is  because  of  the  evidence  of  a  good  work 
in  thee,  that  I  am  led  to  discipline  thee  thus  and  to  seek  thy 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  9 

perfection.  Thy  words  show  that  thou  hast  yet  some  lessons  to 
learn.  Thou  art  not  yet  altogether  willing  that  I  should  be  in 
all  things  sovereign,  and  thy  will  be  made  everywhere  to  suc- 
cimib  to  mine." 

"  But,  gracious  Lord,  how  can  one  who  has  tasted  of  thy 
loving-kindness  and  been  enraptured  by  thy  smile,  receive 
without  deep  anguish  of  heart  the  strokes  of  thy  displeasure  ? 
Thou  hast  given  me  the  very  sensibility  by  virtue  of  which  I 
now  suffer.  Is  it  better  to  be  callous  ?  Better  to  be  without 
expectations,  aspirations  ?" 

"  The  trial  of  your  faith  is  more  precious  than  of  gold  that 
perisheth.  Thoughts  arise  in  your  mind  because  the  furnace 
is  seven  times  heated ;  but  will  you  not  consider  that  I  am 
seven  fold  more  gloriously  manifest  to  you,  and  eventually  by 
your 


January  3. — "  My  strength  is  made  perfect  in  weakness." — 2  Corinthi- 
ans xii.  9. 

The  Christian  must  be  weak  that  he  may  be  strong ;  weak 
in  the  deprivation  of  those  things  which  the  world  connects 
with  the  idea  of  strength ;  deficient  in  the  strength  that  men 
seek  and  extol ;  emptied  of  all  thoughts  of  his  own  indepen- 
dent and  personal  power;  stripped  of  his  own  righteousness 
and  wisdom ;  sensible  of  the  mighty  power  of  the  enemy ;  a 
mere  ruin  and  a  wreck,  apart  from  Christ.  Then  there  is  in- 
deed a  preparation  for  strength.  A  foundation  is  laid  upon 
which  Christ  will  build.  Room  is  made  for  the  wisdom  and 
power  and  sufficiency  of  Christ.  The  Christian  decreases, 
that  he  may,  in  another  and  blessed  sense,  increase.  He  is 
made  perfect  in  weakness  that  he  may  be  made  perfect  in  true 
strength.  Look  at  Peter  with  his  miserable  sword  in  the  gar- 
den of  Gethsemane ;  look  at  him  again  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost. 


10  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

January  4. — "  Lord,  increase  our  faith." — Luke  xvii.  5. 

This  was  one  of  the  wisest  apostolic  utterances.  The  world 
is  unconscious  of  its  unbelief.  It  thinks  that  the  reason  why 
it  has  not  more  faith,  is  that  there  is  no  more  evidence  given  to 
it.  But  no  accumulation  of  evidence  would  remove  the  diffi- 
culty. A  change  within,  a  couching  of  the  moral  vision;  this 
is  that  which  is  necessary. 

The  Lord  answers  this  prayer,  not  in  general  by  giving  new 
evidence,  but  by  inclining  us  to  view  and  appreciate  the  evi- 
dence before  our  minds.  By  leading  us  to  weigh  his  promises 
in  the  scales  of  faith  against  the  proffers  of  the  world.  By 
making  us  to  see  that  faith  is  the  essential  condition  of  blessed- 
ness. By  showing  us  that  we  get  no  good  by  unbelief,  but 
mere  confusion  and  wretchedness : — that  faith  is  the  perception 
of  truth,  and  leads  us,  not  to  a  castle  upon  the  earth,  (which 
might  be  burnt  up,)  not  to  a  castle  in  the  air,  (which  vanisheth 
away,)  but  to  a  glorious  mansion  which  hath  foundations  unre- 
movable, battlements  insurmountable,  amplitude  immeasurable, 
light  inextinguishable,  glory  inconceivable,  and  happiness  in- 
violable. 

January  5. — "If  thou  canst  believe,  all  things  are  possible  to  him  that 
believeth," — Mark  ix.  23. 

"If  thou  canst  do  any  thing,"  said  the  man,  "have  mercy 
upon  us  and  help  us."  The  question  is  not,  says  Christ,  what 
I  can  do;  but  what  tJiou  canst  believe.  All  things  are  possible 
to  me;  but  this  will  help  thee  little.  Have  faith,  and  then  all 
things  will  be  possible  to  thee.  My  power  is  given  to  faith; 
and  fills  every  channel  that  faith  provides. 

Christ  has  all  power  in  heaven  and  in  earth ;  and  he  is  with 
his  servants,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world :  but  something 
beside  these  facts  is  necessary  that  Christ's  mighty  power  may 
be  manifested  among  men.  It  is  still  true  that  faith  deter- 
mines the  exhibitions  of  his  power ;  he  could  not  do  many 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  11 

miglity  works  in  Nazaretli  because  of  tlieir  unbelief;  and  it  is 
doubtless  because  of  the  Churcb's  unbelief  that  he  doeth  so 
few  mighty  works  in  this  our  day. 

Compare  the  power  that  accompanied  the  Christian  Church 
in  her  first  evangelistic,  steps  with  what  we  behold  now.  See 
how  she  clothed  herself  with  thousands  in  the  city  of  the  cru- 
cifiers,  day  by  day ;  how  these  thousands  had  all  things  in 
common  and  were  filled  with  love  and  joy;  how  a  Saul  was 
converted ;  an  Ananias  and  Sapphira  hurled  lifeless  back  from 
the  church  they  wished  to  desecrate ;  how  Peter  came  to  Lyd- 
da  and  Saron,  and  straightway  all  that  dwelt  in  Lydda  and 
Saron  turned  to  the  Lord ;  how  he  came  to  Joppa,  and  imme- 
diately many  believed ;  how  Philip  went  to  Samaria  and  the 
people  with  one  accord  gave  heed  unto  his  preaching.  Ask 
the  world  if  it  sees  any  such  unequivocal  displays  of  Christ's 
power  in  these  days ;  it  will  reply  to  you  thus  : — We  see  noth- 
ing like  it ;  we  see  that  the  Church  is  moving  forwards  with 
the  general  impulse  of  the  age ;  participating  in  and  profiting 
by  the  many  facilities  of  these  latter  times ;  the  press  aids  her, 
but  it  aids  infidelity  and  everything  else.  So  too  with  the  provi- 
dential movements  of  the  day ;  what  they  do  for  her  they  do 
for  her  in  common  with  numberless  other  systems ;  and  she  has 
so  far  accommodated  herself  to  the  spirit  of  the  times  we  live 
in,  that  men  can  join  her  communion  without  sustaining  any 
particular  worldly  loss  or  inconvenience.  If  we  may  believe 
what  is  written,  from  the  days  of  Abraham  to  the  days  of  the 
apostles,  divine  power  was  exerted  in  behalf  of  the  Church  in 
ways  that  were  quite  distinctive,  and  so  as  to  give  testimony 
concerning  the  people  of  God  apart  from  other  people :  and 
this  would  seem  to  be  the  only  kind  of  testimony  available  for 
the  object  in  view. 

Well,  the  Lord's  arm  is  not  shortened  that  it  cannot  save. 
He  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever.  But  our  fliith 
is  feeble.     We  cannot  suppose  that  he  is  any  more  loth  to  an- 


12  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

swer  tlie  prayer  of  faith,  any  more  loth  to  be  revealed  in  con- 
nection with  his  people  than  he  was  in  former  times.  The 
spirit  of  Egypt  Was  not  drowned  in  the  Red  Sea,  but  appeared 
afterwards  in  the  camp  of  the  Israelites  to  the  grievous  detri- 
ment of  the  chosen  people :  and  the  Church  is  by  no  means 
emancipated  from  the  spirit  of  the  dark  ages. 


January  6.—"  The  Lord  God  is  a  sun."— Psalm  Ixxxiv.  11. 

The  sun  is  a  glorious  emblem  of  God,  in  his  relation  to  all 
who  know  him  and  trust  in  him.  It  seems  to  exist  only  to 
dispense.  Its  beams  know  no  intermission.  They  are  inter- 
cepted but  never  withheld.  We  need  only  that  we  should  be 
turned  towards  them,  and  that  there  should  be  no  veil  before 
our  eyes,  no  clouds  in  our  atmosphere.  They  enlighten,  they 
warm,  they  vivify,  they  gladden.  Their  profusion  is  amazing 
One  hundred  millions  of  square  miles  of  these  beams  descend 
each  moment  on  the  earth  and  vanish  in  the  same  moment  to 
make  way  for  another  similar  supply.  The  sun  opens  to  us 
the  door  of  the  imiverse,  so  to  speak,  and  reveals  creation. 
Without  it  we  could  neither  have  the  knowledge  or  the  benefit 
of  anything  that  is. 

All  this  is  gloriously  suggestive  of  the  God  of  all  grace. 
Through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  are  brought  into  the  path 
of  his  beams.  Our  understandings  are  enlightened,  our  hearts 
are  warmed,  our  spirits  are  gladdened.  We  begin  to  get  the 
good  of  God's  creation.  We  are  in  '  marvellous  light.'  And 
as  the  natural  sun  visits  all  things,  yet  gives  itself  wholly  to 
each,  makes  the  whole  earth  prolific  for  the  benefit  of  each,  the 
heavens  and  earth  beautiful  for  the  joy  of  each,  so  does  God 
grant  to  each  of  his  children  an  infinite  fulness  of  love,  and 
gives  himself  with  all  his  perfections,  in  wondrous  union  to 
each  beloved  one. 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  13 

January  7. — "In  all  thy  ways  acknowledge  him;  and  he  shall  direct 
tliy  patts." — Proverbs  iii.  6. 

Acknowledge  him  as  thy  guide,  thine  only,  thy  necessary 
guide.  Refuse  to  stir  a  step  without  him,  as  the  blind  man 
that  stops  the  moment  he  misses  his  guide.  Without  him  thou 
art  in  utter  darkness,  and  thy  next  step  may  be  into  a  pit.  He 
has  made  thee  thus  dependent.  It  is  not  enough  that  the  sun 
shines  for  thee,  the  earth  upholds  thee,  and  all  God's  works 
wait  upon  thee ;  all  these  finite  ministers  cannot  guarantee  thee 
one  safe  step.  God  has  ordained  it.  He  created  thee  to  be 
guided  by  himself,  and  unless  thou  canst  call  into  existence 
another  God  like  him  for  thyself,  thou  hast,  without  him,  no 
guarantee  in  any  of  thy  paths.  Therefore  acknowledge  him  as 
thy -guide. 

In  all  thy  ways.  In  thy  worship.  In  thy  study  of  his 
word.  In  thy  intercourse  with  his  people.  In  thy  traffic 
with  the  world.  In  thy  business  and  in  thy  recreation.  At  thy 
meals.  In  thy  correspondence.  In  thy  reading.  In  thy 
dress.  What !  in  these  petty  matters  ?  Yes  !  in  all  thy  ways. 
Thinkest  thou  that  God  will  have  no  word  for  thee  on  such 
topics  ?  Be  undeceived.  Thou  shalt  find  a  revelation  of  the 
will  of  God  for  every  one  of  thy  paths.  There  is  no  need  for 
thee  ever  to  let  go  his  hand.  Not  a  single  hair  in  thy  head 
receives  its  aliment  without  him.  Why  then  should  a  single 
step  be  taken  without  him  ?  Think,  and  you  shall  see  that 
the  fate  of  millions  may  be  involved  in  the  least  step  that  you 
may  be  called  to  take. 


January  8. — "  I  give  unto  them  eternal  life." — John  x.  28. 

Consider  the  speaker,  the  giver.     Who  is  this  shepherd  ?    It 
is  the  Lord  of  Glory.     All  things  were  made  not  only  by  him, 
but  for  him.    .It  is  for  all  to  yield  the  tribute  of  all  they  pos- 
sess to  him,  and  ever  to  ascribe  unto  him  all  glory  and  honor 
2 


14  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

and  wisdom  and  power.  But  lo !  this  Lord  of  all  quits  his 
throne,  takes  a  shepherd's  crook,  and  comes  forth  with  a  gift. 

Consider  then  on  wJiom  the  gift  is  hestoioecL  As  you  as- 
cended high  to  learn  the  dignity  of  the  giver,  so  must  you  de- 
scend beyond  expression  deep  to  know  the  unworthiness  of  the 
beneficiaries.  They  are  distinguished  in  creation  by  this  mark, 
that  they  resolved,  whatever  angels  in  heaven  or  saints  on  earth 
might  do,  they  would  yield  no  tribute  to  the  Lord  of  Hosts, 
no,  not  so  much  as  a  shoe  latchet,  and  would  arrogate  to  them- 
selves glory,  honor,  wisdom  and  power.  Hell  yawned  for  them, 
exulting.  But  the  injured  Prince  came  nigh  to  them,  veiling 
his  glory  that  he  might  not  irritate,  donning  the  habiliments 
of  a  humble  and  a  friendly  shepherd. 

Consider  the  gift — eternal  life.  Not  common  life.  Even 
common  life  is  better  than  all  material  things.  But  a  celestial 
life.  Nay,  a  divine  life.  His  own  life.  He  breathed  into 
them  his  own  infinite  spirit,  and  immediately  they  began  to 
walk  heavenward,  in  faith,  love,  joy,  humility,  peace,  hope, 
dignity,  and  unspeakable  blessedness.  This  life  permeated  all 
their  being,  reached  their  eyes,  their  lips,  their  hands,  their 
feet,  and  made  them  what  the  seraphim  in  heaven  are,  ser- 
vants of  the  most  high  God.  Eternal  life !  Mighty  mountains 
shall  crumble  beneath  their  feet, — they  will  ascend  to  higher ; 
earth  shall  dissolve  beneath  them, — they  will  step  into  the 
heavens ;  the  heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a  great  noise, — 
they  will  mount  up  to  the  heaven  of  heavens ;  the  stupendous 
cycles  of  the  universe  will  revolve, — they  will  live  on,  crowned 
with  garlands  of  never-fading  youth,  purity,  wisdom,  and  de- 
light. 


January  9.— "My  God  shall  supply  all  your  need."— Philippians  iv.  19. 

He  knows  your  need.     It  seems  to  you  that  no  one  can 
know  it,  it  is  so  vast.     He  knows  it  better  than  you  do  your- 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  15 

self.  He  does  not  confound  you  with  others,  saying,  I  know 
what  man  needs ;  but  he  knows  you,  yourself^  and  is  acquainted 
with  all  the  necessities  of  your  individual  being,  as  though 
every  thought,  every  desire,  that  had  ever  trembled  in  your 
heart  had  spent  itself  in  his  own  infinite  mind.  It  has  done 
so !  The  multitude  of  your  own  aspirations  are  not  present  to 
you,  are  lost  to  you,  but  he  has  caught  them  all  in  his  own 
vessel,  and  will  see  to  it  that  all  are  duly  fulfilled.  He  knows 
your  need ;  your  bodily  and  your  social  need,  your  intellectual 
need,  your  spiritual  need.  Your  need  to-day,  your  need  yes- 
terday, and  your  need  to-morrow. 

And  he  knows  it  that  he  may  supply  it.  Ask  and  receive. 
Your  most  urgent  need  he  satisfies  at  once.  Your  most  press- 
ing need  is  to  be  free  from  vain  desires,  and  to  know  how  to 
prefer  the  best  gifts.  He  does  not  make  your  need  less,  but 
he  refines  it  from  its  grossness,  and  then  he  satisfies  it. 

"  My  God;'  the  God  of  Paul,  will  do  it.  Think  how  he 
supplied  the  need  of  Paul  on  earth ; — how  he  has  supplied  it 
since  in  heaven ; — how  he  will  ever  supply  it ;  and  let  all  un- 
belief and  anxiety  vanish  from  your  minds. 


January  10. — "All  that  the  Father  giveth  me  shall  come  to  me." — 
John  vi.  37. 

Note — The  gift : — the  vilest  thing  in  the  universe, — a  sin- 
ner's soul. 

The  Griver  :— God  the  Father. 

To  whom  given  ? — to  his  equal  Son. 

Why  such  a  gift?  First,  because  all  else  belonged  to 
Christ.  Second,  its  very  vileness  afforded  the  largest  scope 
for  divine  love  to  manifest  itself.  Third,  it  shall  be  fashioned 
into  incomparable  excellence. 

In  coming  to  Christ,  there  need  be  no  trembling.  We  are 
not  the  principals  in  the  matter.     We  are  but  a  third  party. 


16  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

The  Lord  of  Hosts  is  bestowing  upon  tlie  Prince  of  Peace  a 
birtli-day  present.  Woe  unto  us,  if  we  start  aside  and  seek  to 
interfere  witli  that  divine  bounty.  Let  Christ  have  what  the 
Father  has  selected  for  him.  The  Spirit  that  leads  you  to  Je- 
sus, cries  out  to  Jesus,  "  the  Father  gives  you  this."  Then  is 
there  joy  in  heaven. 


January  11. — "In  time  of  trouble,  he  shall  hide  me  in  his  pavilion." — 
Psalm  xxvii.  5. 

There  is  a  time  of  trouble.  It  comes  once  and  again. 
Murmur  not  against  it.  Say  not,  let  mercy  appear  in  the  ex- 
emption from  trouble.  Mercy  requires  that  there  should  be 
tribulation.  There  are  some  gems  in  your  breastplate  that 
only  give  forth  their  lustre  when  trouble  comes  nigh  to  you. 

Your  heart  is  agitated  at  its  approach.  It  comes  perhaps 
in  such  an  unexpected  guise.  It  appears  so  irresistible ;  you 
seem  so  helpless.  You  have  what  has  long  been  thought  by 
you  a  trusty  blade,  but  it  is  now  shivered  in  your  hand.  If 
there  be  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  let  it  now  manifest 
itself.  Your  enemies  are  now  ready  to  swallow  you  up.  You 
are  in  the  centre  of  a  plain ;  they  are  between  you  and  the 
mountains.  Remember  Grod.  Make  mention  of  his  promise. 
Behold !  a  curtain  descends  from  heaven,  and  becomes  around 
you  a  royal  tent.  Instead  of  danger  you  have  safety ;  and 
trouble  is  succeeded  by  surpassing  peace.  You  are  in  the  pa- 
vilion of  God,  and  your  enemies  go  round  and  round;  they 
cannot  find  you ;  you  are  hidden.  Faith,  submission,  long-suf- 
fering, humility,  these  gems  sparkled  in  your  breastplate; 
wherefore  now  peace,  triumph,  joy  and  love  light  up  the  pa- 
vilion for  you. 


Januauy  12. — "Wait  on  the  Lord  :  be  of  good  courage." — Ps.  xxvii.  14. 
Tell  him  your  story;  unfold  to  him  your  case;  expect  deliv- 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  17 

eraiice  tlirougli  liim  alone;  -be  satisfied  to  receive  it  as  it  shall 
please  him  to  give  it  and  in  the  time  that  seems  best  to  him. 
By  prayer  and  faith  on  your  part  and  promise  on  his,  there  is 
an  alliance  signed,  sealed,  and  ratified.  Your  enemies  see  you 
alone,  and  dream  not  that  the  Almighty  is  your  ally,  and  that 
they  are  rushing  upon  the  thick  bosses  of  his  shield.  See 
him  that  is  to  them  invisible,  and  be  of  good  courage. 

Wait  on  him  with  an  explicit  statement. 

Wait  on  him  in  continuous  prayer. 

Wait  on  him  in  the  study  of  his  word. 

Wait  on  him  in  trust ;  in  penitence ;  and  in  obedience. 

Wait  on  him  in  the  society  of  his  people. 

And  he  of  good  courage.  He  only  has  properly  anything  to 
do  with  courage,  who  waits  on  the  Lord.  To  be  bold  without 
the  favor  of  Grod,  to  be  brave  where  we  have  no  warrant  for 
intrepidity,  to  be  fearless  where  there  is  nothing  but  our  own 
prowess,  wisdom  or  luck  to  aid  us,  is  simply  to  play  the  fool. 
A  man  must  either  have  Omnipotence  with  him  or  against 
him.  What  matters  it  if  he  is  able  to  cut  his  way  through  an 
army,  if  he  wait  not  on  G  od  ?  A  tile  from  a  roof  may  crush 
him.  The  wrath  of  Grod  abideth  on  him.  His  deeds  are  done 
on  the  border  of  a  precipice  which  he  sees  not.  His  foot  shall 
slide  in  due  time. 


January  13. — "He  that  shall  endure  unto  the  end,  the  same  shall  be 
saved." — Matthew  xxiv.  13. 

These  words  were  evidently  intended  to  produce  the  impres- 
sion (1)  that  there  are  difiiculties  in  the  way  of  salvation,  be- 
sides those  at  the  entrance  of  that  way ;  (2)  that  these  difficul- 
ties may  be  o-vercome;  but  only  (3)  by  him  who  contemplates 
them,  appreciates  them,  prepares  for  them,  and  confronts  them. 
The  doctrine  of  "  the  perseverance  of  the  saints"  teaches  that 
every  one  who  is  united  to  Christ  by  a  living  faith,  will,  by 

2  * 


18  DAILY    MEDITATIOXS. 

virtue  of  tliat  faitli,  endure  unto  the  end — will  resist  and  van- 
quish the  various  assaults  that  shall  be  made  upon  him. 

When  the  fierce  struggle  that  sometimes  precedes  the  first 
act  of  true  faith  in  Christ  is  over,  and  the  new  disciple  rejoices 
in  the  discovery  of  God's  wondrous  grace,  it  is  difiicult  for  him 
to  apprehend,  in  its  full  extent,  the-  necessity  of  future  strife. 
When,  by  divine  aid,  the  soul  has  climbed  to  some  elevated 
region  of  which  it  had  never  before  dreamed,  and  finds  itself 
amidst  flowers  and  fruits  that  had  no  existence  in  its  former 
world,  it  rejoices  at  the  translation,  and  is  disposed  to  look 
upon  that  as  the  place  in  which  to  pitch  its  tabernacle  and 
abide  all  its  days.  It  is  given  it  there  to  sojourn  for  a  while; 
but  soon  a  voice  bids  it  come  up  higher.  It  starts  to  obey  the 
summons ;  but  finds,  perhaps,  the  same  formidable  enemies  that 
had  been  encountered  below,  arrayed  to  hinder  its  further  as- 
cension. It  shrinks  and  says.  There  is  no  need ;  it  is  good  to 
be  here ;  God's  grace  and  a  true  faith  brought  me  hither,  and 
here  it  is  certainly  safe  to  abide.  But,  presently,  the  rainbow 
of  peace,  joy  and  hope,  the  symbol  of  God's  covenant  with  the 
soul,  lifts  itself  from  that  region  and  removes  to  the  higher 
and  fairer  place  whither  the  soul  is  summoned.  The  soul  of 
the  true  believer  then  rouses  itself  to  battle  with  its  foes,  and 
takes  no  rest  until  it  finds  it  in  the  higher  region.  This  is 
still  more  heaven-like ;  but  it  is  not  heaven  j  and  soon  it  is  ne- 
cessary to  ascend  to  a  higher  plateau.  "  I  am  saved,''  says  the 
soul,  a  thousand  times ;  but  the  voice  from  heaven  says,  "  He 
that  enclureth  to  the  end  shall  be  saved." 

He  that  endureth  shall  be  saved ;  and  he  that  findeth  salva- 
tion, shall  endure. 

Endurance  is  salvation ;  salvation  is  endurance. 

While  faith  endures,  the  soul  endures. 

The  end  here  spoken  of  is  that  limit  beyond  which  the  ene- 
mies of  the  soul  are  not  allowed  to  pass.  Within  that  limit 
they  may  sometimes  hide  themselves,  but  it  is  only  that  they 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  19 

may  surprise  tlie  more  by  tlieir  next  assault.  Even  tliougli 
we  should  see  tlie  prince  of  those  enemies  buried  and  sealed  in 
the  bottomless  pit  for  a  thousand  years,  it  is  not  good  to  break 
up  our  camp.  Blessed  are  you  when  you  hear  a  voice  saying 
unto  you,  "  It  is  finished;  come  to  the  marriage  supper  of  the 
Lamb." 


January  14. — "Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  my  name,  that  will  I  do." — 
John  xiv.  13. 

This  promise  is  introduced  by  a  declaration  that  there  is 
nothing  but  the  want  of  faith  to  hinder  Christ's  disciples  from 
doing  works  as  great  as  those  that  Christ  himself  performed 
when  on  the  earth ;  greater  works  even. 

"  Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  my  name,  that  will  I  do.  Ye 
shall  do  those  works  nominally,  but  I  really.  Understand  that 
I  do  not  deprive  the  earth  of  any  of  my  power  by  my  depar- 
ture. I  go  to  sit  upon  my  Father's  throne,  that  I  may  do 
greater  works  on  earth  than  I  have  done.  The  leper  that  did 
not  find  me,  when  I  was  on  the  earth,  need  not  despond ;  the 
blind  and  the  lame  that  are  just  beginning  to  hear  of  me,  need 
not  despair,  when  they  hear  of  my  crucifixion ;  the  unclean 
spirits  have  no  occasion  to  rejoice,  nor  the  god  of  this  world  to 
Qxult.  The  vine  is  present  where  its  branches  are  present.  I 
formerly  stretched  out  one  hand  and  blessed  one  locality,  one 
company ;  but  henceforth,  on  my  Father's  throne  seated,  I  will 
hear  the  prayer  of  faith  ascending  from  a  thousand  places,  and 
by  the  hands  of  my  disciples  in  all  those  places,  I  will  do 
mighty  works.  They  ask  and  I  do.  The  mightiest  religions 
that  the  world  has  ever  seen,  shall  thus  be  overthrown.  Pi- 
late, the  petty  servant  of  the  Emperor  of  Kome,  may  give  me 
to  an  ignominious  death ;  but  my  pierced  hand  shall  only  be 
clothed  with  the  greater  might,  and  shall  bring  the  Pagan 
Emperor  himself  from  his  throne  to  my  feet.  My  servants 
will  ask  it  and  I  will  do  it." 


20  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

January  15. — "  There  is,  therefore,  now  no  condemnation  to  them 
which  are  iu  Christ  Jesus." — Romans  viii.  1. 

To  them  which  are  in  Christ  Jesus.  Think  it  not  a  strange 
expression.  It  is  well  chosen.  Faith  in  Christ,  union  to 
Christ,  and  similar  expressions,  mean  much  more  than  can 
easily  be  comprehended.  The  expression  "  them  which  are  in 
Christ"  is  added,  that  we  may  not  too  soon  think  we  under- 
stand the  others.  In  Christ,  as  Noah  was  in  the  ark.  With- 
out, the  besom  of  condemnation  swept  the  universal  face  of 
things;  but  there  was  no  condemnation  to  him  who  had  fled 
for  refuge  to  that  sanctuary.  In  the  ark  with  Noah  was  all 
that  had  life,  and  all  that  could  nourish  life.  Abundance  of 
blessing  within,  desolation  without.  How  terrible  a  venture 
would  it  have  been  to  go  forth  of  that  ark.  There  is  now  no 
deluge  to  them  that  are  in  the  ark ;  no  condemnation  to  them 
that  are  in  Christ  Jesus. 

Estimate  then  these  words  : —  Condemnation. — In  Christ. — 
JSfo  condemnation. 

Think  not  that  "  no  condemnation"  is  a  merely  negative 
thing.  The  revoking  of  a  sentence  of  condemnation,  even  in 
the  case  of  an  earthly  prisoner,  gives  him  to  enjoy  the  bless- 
ings that  descend  in  such  profusion  in  the  beams  of  the  sun, 
spring  up  in  the  abundant  crops  and  the  manifold  fruits,  blow 
in  the  breeze,  and  murmur  in  the  stream ;  restores  him  to  the 
society  of  many  loved  ones,  and  affords  him  the  opportunity 
of  rising  to  wealth  and  distinction.  And  the  words  "  no  con- 
demnation," in  the  case  of  the  spiritual  captive,  removes  the 
veil  that  hindered  him  from  meeting  the  reconciled  face  of  Him 
whose  name  is  Love.  The  words  not  only  liberate  him,  but 
liberate  ten  thousand  ministers  of  God,  celestial  and  terrestrial, 
who  spring  forth  to  wait  upon  him,  and  will  never  leave  him 
till  they  have  brought  him,  victorious,  radiant,  pure  and 
blessed,  to  the  company  of  Gabriel,  and  of  Michael,  and  of  all 
the  saints  in  light. 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  21 

JANtTAnY  16. — '^  There  remaineth,  therefore,  a  rest  to  the  people  u{ 
God." — Hebrews  iv.  9. 

This  portion  of  Scripture  is  an  exposition  of  the  ninety-fiftli 
Psalm.  The  word  rendered  "  rest''  in  this  verse,  is  different 
from  the  v/ord  so  rendered  in  many  other  verses  of  the  con- 
text. It  does  not,  however,  signify  anything  different :  it  is 
intended  to  elucidate.  There  is  in  it  a  reference  to  the  Sab- 
bath, and  it  indicates  a  Sabbatic  rest — a  gi*eat  and  glorious 
rest  of  which  the  Sabbath  is  an  emblem.  And  Paul  exhorts 
the  Hebrew  Christians  to  labor  to  enter  into  th'kt  rest.  To 
labor  now,  that  they  may  rest  hereafter. 

The  following  are  elements  in  that  future  rest : — Deliver- 
ance from  our  own  vain,  unhallowed  imaginations ;  from  self- 
confidence  and  the  spirit  of  self-aggrandizement;  from  un- 
worthy conceptions  of  Grod ;  from  the  vacillations  of  our  love 
to  Christ ;  from  worldly  desires ;  from  liability  to  fall ;  from 
misunderstandings  with  our  brethren ',  in  a  word,  from  all  the 
remnants  of  a  carnal  mind  : — deliverance  from  indisposition  to 
the  service  of  God,  and  incompetency  for  the  same ;  from  the 
assaults  of  Satan ;  from  the  companionship  of  sinners ;  from  a 
sin-injured  body. 

Take  not  your  rest  too  soon,  else  you  will  never  enter  into 
your  real  rest.  It  is  not  here,  on  this  plank,  amid  the  billows; 
but  yonder  on  that  shore. 


Jantjary  17. — "  "We  have  not  a  high-priest  which  cannot  be  touched 
with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities." — Hebrews  iv.  15. 

"  "We  have  not  a  high-priest  incapable  of  sympathizing 
with  our  weaknesses,"  would  be  more  literal,  but  would  not  be 
more  beautiful.  The  statement  is  in  the  negative,  and  seems 
to  summon  us  for  a  moment  to  consider  what  our  condition 
would  be,  if  we  had  a  high-priest  incapable  of  sympathizing 
with  us.     We  may  also  view  it  as    conveying  a  reproach  to 


22  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

those  wlio  act  towards  Christ  as  though  he  were  such  a  high- 
priest.  They  do  so  when  the  keen  sense  of  their  infirmities 
hinders  their  confidence  in  him,  and  their  joy  in  his  promises. 
Grod  hath  sufiered  you  to  discover  your  weakness  for  the 
very  reason  that  you  might  be  drawn  to  Christ,  the  source  of 
strength;  and  to  discover  your  own  unloveliness,  that  you 
might  know  the  loveliness  of  Christ.  Grod  is  teaching  you 
your  need  of  sympathy  and  aid;  and  yet  in  that  very  hour 
you  hide  yourself  from  the  fountain-head  of  sympathy  and  suc- 
cor. Is  it  flot  enough  that  you  should  lose  the  jiotion  of  your 
own  goodness, — but  must  you  strip  Christ  of  his  goodness  and 
glory  ?  For  what  would  Christ  be  without  sympathy,  without 
compassion  for  the  erring  ?  If  he  were  what  you  would  make 
him  out  to  be,  would  the  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  say 
with  a  loud  voice,  "  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to  re- 
ceive power,  and  riches,  and  wisdom,  and  strength,  and  honor, 
and  glory,  and  blessing  ?"  Do  you  wish  to  extinguish  this 
chorus  ? 

January  18. — "  They  that  know  thy  name  will  put  their  trust  in  thee." 
— Psalm  ix.  10. 

Christ,  in  the  prayer  recorded  in  the  seventeenth  chapter  of 
John,  says :  "  I  have  manifested  thy  name  unto  the  men  that 
thou  gavest  me."  And  again:  "I  have  declared  unto  them 
thy  name,  and  will  declare  it."  The  manifestation  of  God's 
name  is  the  manifestation  of  God.  They  that  know  his  name 
know  him,  and  they  put  their  trust  in  him.  Knowledge  and 
faith  are  in  inseparable  alliance.  Unbelief  and  ignorance  go 
too-ether. 

Do  you  grieve  over  your  want  of  faith  ?  Grieve  over  your 
want  of  knowledge.  Look  unto  Emmanuel,  God  manifest  in 
the  flesh.  Remember  his  kindness  towards  the  sons  of  men, 
his  sacrifices  of  glory,  felicity,  power,  rest,  reputation,  liberty, 
health  and  life ;  remember  what  he  has  been  to  you  individu- 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  23 

ally;  look  at  him  througli  kis  promises,  invitation  and  pre- 
dictions, and  trust  in  him. 

When  any  one  withholds  his  confidence  from  you,  you  say, 
"  He  does  not  know  me."  The  implication  of  the  text  is,  that 
there  is  everything  attractive  about  the  character  of  God.  It 
is  impossible  to  know  him  without  being  drawn  to  repose  all 
confidence  in  him,  and  to  commit  all  our  interests  to  him.  To 
know  him  is  to  know  in  him  one  who  is  willing  to  employ  in- 
finite wisdom,  knowledge,  power,  and  wealth  in  the  utmost 
possible  promotion  of  our  interests.  To  know  him  is  to  know 
that  without  him  we  are  nothing — as  dead  men  in  respect  to 
all  true  excellence. 

January  19. — "  If  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father, 
Jesus  Christ,  the  righteous." — 1  John  ii.  1. 

"  I  write  unto  you,"  says  John,  "  that  ye  sin  not."  Such 
was  his  aim  in  writing  this  epistle,  and  such  was  his  aim  in 
writing  the  words  of  our  text.  The  statement  that  we  have  an 
advocate  with  the  Father,  is  intended  to  keep  us  from  sinning. 
Any  man  that  uses  it  merely  as  an  opiate  to  his  conscience, 
and  to  procure  him  peace  in  sinning,  diverts  it  from  its  legiti- 
mate use. 

But  when  a  Christian  has  been  overtaken  in  a  fault,  what 
shall  he  do  ?  Let  him  remember  that  for  him,  the  unrighteous 
one,  there  is  an  advocate,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous.  Fear 
not  the  javelin  of  divine  wrath.  It  must  come  through  Christ 
before  it  can  reach  you.  Nay,  it  has  already  reached  him. 
The  marks  of  the  wounds  appear  in  his  glorified  body.  Your 
in,  mounting  up  to  the  throne  of  God,  does  not  get  there  be- 
fore Christ,  your  advocate.  It  is  a  great  thing  when  an 
advocate  can  get  up  in  court  and  say,  The  trespass  of  my  cli- 
ent has  been  already  atoned  for ',  the  full  penalty  has  been  in- 
flicted; and  nothing  now  can  be  imputed  to  him.  Christ's 
advocacy  not  only  obtains  for  us  justification,  but  also  the 


24  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

Spirit  of  God,  wlio,  with  tlie  blood   of  Christ,  cleanseth  us 
from  all  sin. 

We  are  richer  in  heaven  than  we  are  on  earth.  We  have 
Christ  the  righteous,  our  advocate, — mine, — ^yours, — in  heaven; 
on  the  earth  we  have  nothing  that  we  can  justly  call  our  own. 
We  are  here  in  a  wayfaring  place ;  what  we  see  is  but  the  fur- 
niture of  an  inn ;  it  does  not  belong  to  us,  save  for  a  moment- 
ary use.  But  we  have  unsearchable  riches  in  the  country  to 
which  we  go.  When  any  one  says,  "  What  have  you  ?"  May 
you  be  able  to  answer,  "  I  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father — 
the  richest  of  friends  in  the  most  important  of  all  places." 


January  20. — "Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you." — Luke  xi.  9. 

This  is  a  very  defective  world.  Every  body  says  so.  We 
have  here  only  the  rudiments  of  things.  There  is  beauty  and 
there  is  blessing ;  but  only  in  fragments.  A  great  deal  has 
been  done  to  make  man's  condition  agreeable;  and  a  great 
deal  left  undone.  There  is  health ;  but  it  does  not  endure. 
Strength ;  but  it  is  evanescent.  Rain  in  its  season ;  but  not 
invariable.  Fruits;  but  they  sometimes  fail.  Friends;  but 
they  are  called  away.  Comforts;  but  we  are  liable  to  lose 
them.  Wealth ;  but  it  takes  wings.  Objects  of  interest;  but 
they  lose  their  novelty.  Incompleteness  is  the  great  character- 
istic of  this  world.  There  is  no  hope  without  disappointments ; 
no  acquisition  without  loss;  no  joy  without  interruption;  no 
day  without  night.  The  consequence  is,  that  we  hear  endless 
murmuring  and  complaining;  much  of  it  referring  to  God, 
who  has  given  such  scintillations  of  his  goodness,  only  to  make- 
the  general  darkness  more  oppressive ;  such  specimens  of  his 
power  to  bless,  while  he  has  left  the  world  in  such  an  unfin- 
ished condition,  left  such  large  unblest  gaps  in  life. 

"  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you,"  is  the  reply  of  Grod.     "  I 
lia,ve  given  you  half;  the  other  half  is  in  my  hand.    You  build 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  25 

a  house,  and  one  stone  is  wanting  to  complete  it ;  you  search 
everywhere,  and  are  angry  because  you  find  it  not.  It  is  with 
me;  I  have  kept  it  purposely,  that  your  house  may  not  be 
built  without  me.  You  build  a  ship  -,  but  the  rudder  is  not 
forthcoming.  I  have  kept  it,  that  you  may  ask  and  receive, 
and  discover  that  the  whole  is  my  gift.  You  find  a  book,  but 
there  is  a  chapter  wanting,  without  which  all  is  unintelligible. 
One  blessing  I  have  kept  back,  that  you  might  know  who  gave 
the  rest,  and  seek  him."  But  man  prefers  to  blame  God  for 
the  privation,  rather  than  to  seek  God  for  its  removal.  Let 
man  know,  then,  that  he  is  responsible  for  what  is  defective  in 
his  condition. 

Ask  in  the  right  quarter,  and  it  shall  be  given  you.  There 
is  much  asking.  Men  will  ask  of  those,  even,  whom  they  de- 
spise. They  spend  their  lives  in  asking;  even  the  proudest, 
even  an  emperor,  does  so.  But  they  are  intensely  loth  to  ask 
of  God. 

Ask  in  the  right  way.  If  you  were  asking  a  man  to  give 
you  a  cup  of  water,  you  would  ask  in  the  way  that  would 
please  him.     Let  God  prescribe  how  we  shall  ask  him. 

Ask  for  the  most  essential  gifts  first.  Men  on  a  wreck 
should  ask  for  a  sail,  not  for  an  embroidered  garment. 

Ask  for  regulated  tastes  and  desires.  This  one  gift  will  cut 
oft'  at  once  a  thousand  occasions  of  murmuring. 

Ask  with  importunity.     Ask  in  faith. 


January  21.—"  Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God."— Eph.  iv.  30. 

I  will  suppose  that  you  have  travelled  in  a  strange  country 
with  a  congenial  companion.  You  were  careful  to  do  and  say 
nothing  that  would  mar  the  pleasure  of  your  intercourse. 
There  were  many  pleasant  objects  to  look  at,  but  your  experi- 
ence taught  you  that  any  unpleasantness  between  your  com- 
panion and  yourself  would  quite  do  away  with  the  attractions 
3 


26  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

of  the  tilings  around  j^ou.  So  you  were  careful  not  to  grieve 
him. 

The  Spirit  of  God  is  your  companion.  Most  exalted  of  all 
beings,  he  abides  with  you  on  the  footing  of  a  friend,  to  teaeh, 
persuade,  purify,  and  bless.  He  is  particular  indeed ;  but  it  is 
for  your  good.  He  interferes  with  you  at  times ; — not  to  make 
a  display  of  his  authority,  but  for  your  preservation.  He  re- 
strains you  at  the  entrance  of  some  dark  pit;  it  is  because  a 
wolf  has  made  its  lair  there.  He  stops  you  as  you  are  step- 
ping into  a  boat;  it  is  because  a  whirlwind  is  rushing  to  meet 
it.  He  hurries  you  away  from  some  elevated  spot;  It  is  be- 
cause the  mountain  is  heaving,  and  a  volcano  is  about  to  burst 
forth.  Dispute  not  with  him;  grieve  him  not.  He  does 
nothing  to  grieve  you. 

Grrieve  him  not  by  forgetting  his  presence ;  by  forgetting  the 
sufferings  of  Christ;  by  neglecting  prayer;  by  slighting  the 
word ;  by  going  into  temptation ;  by  reading  irreligious  or  idle 
books ;  by  waste  of  time ;  by  disregarding  the  miseries  of  your 
fellow-men ;  by  apologies  for  sin ;  by  leaning  to  your  own  un- 
derstanding. 

You  know  how  difficult  it  is  to  put  things  exactly  on  their 
former  basis,  when  you  have  had  some  misunderstanding  with 
your  friend.  If  you  have  insulted  him,  and  he  has  forgiven 
you,  it  is  not  easy  to  look  him  in  the  face  just  as  you  formerly 
did.  It  is  sad  to  have  brought  to  light  the  possibility  of  a 
falling  out.  If  the  thing  has  occurred  repeatedly,  the  memory 
of  it  will  sadden  and  straiten  your  intercourse.  Then  grieve 
not  the  Spirit  of  Grod.  Sooner  let  the  sick  passenger  insult 
the  generous  oarsman  who  is  struggling  to  save  him  from  the 
breakers.  Sooner  let  the  captive  quarrel  with  the  benevo- 
lent stranger  who  is  laying  down  a  fortune  for  his  ransom. 
Sooner  let  Hagar  revile  the  angel  who  points  her  to  a  fountain 
where  she  and  her  son  may  drink  and  live.  Oh,  grieve  not 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  ! 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  27 

January  22. — "  Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace,  whose  mind  is 
stayed  on  thee." — Isaiatt"  xxvi.  3. 

Bring  your  mind  to  God ;  bring  it  to  him  daily  and  hourly, 
and  daily  and  hourly  he  will  fill  it  with  its  true  treasure. 

All  nature  exists  in  vain  where  there  is  no  peace  in  the 
mind.  Wherefore  are  the  skies  blue,  and  the  earth  green,  and 
the  mountains  sublime,  and  the  rivers  joyful,  if  there  be  not 
peace  at  heart  ?  The  flowers  have  no  perfume,  the  birds  no 
song,  the  voice  of  man  no  charm,  where  the  mind  which  they 
were  created  to  please  is  without  susceptibility  to  their  bene- 
fits. Bring  me  not  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  nor  precious  stones, 
nor  thousands  of  gold  and  silver,  nor  the  votive  offerings  of  a 
nation.  Bring  me  peace,  restore  my  disorganized  mind.  Till 
then,  I  have  ears,  but  they  hear  no  music;  eyes,  but  they  see 
no  beauty;  an  understanding,  but  it  grasps  not  truth ;  feet,  but 
they  move  with  no  alacrity. 

Ah !  it  is  only  he  that  made  your  mind,  that  can  restore  it. 
He  has  the  only  bow  that  can  draw  music  from  this  violin.  He 
has  made  the  mind  for  peace ;  and  he  has  made  peace  for  the 
mind,  'perfect  peace.  Perfect,  as  contrasted  with  any  peace 
that  the  world  can  give.  Perfect,  because  it  is  a  holy  peace; 
sin  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Perfect,  because  enduring. 
Perfect,  as  being  Christ's  own  peace.  "  My  peace  I  give  unto 
you," — the  peace  of  God. 

The  mind  of  man  must  be  stayed  on  something  greater  than 
itself.  It  must  be  stayed  upon  the  great  mind  of  God.  A 
house  can  better  do  without  a  foundation ;  a  monument  with- 
out a  pedestal ;  an  infant  without  the  parents'  arm. 

"  Thou  wilt  keep  him."  These  words  express  the  covenant 
of  Grod ;  and  faith  in  that  covenant. 


Jantjauy  23. — "  I  will  heal  their  backsliding." — Ilosea  xix.  4. 

God  docs  this-(l)  by  letting  them  taste  some  of  the  bitter 


28  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

fruits  of  their  backsliding.  Dreadful  shadows  gather  round 
their  path.  Anguish  invades  their  souls.  They  discover  the 
frightful  desolation  of  a  path  where  God  is  not.  (2)  He 
brings  to  their  recollection  the  happy  state  from  whence  they 
fell;  the  blessedness  of  having  the  Good  Shepherd  to  lead 
them,  and  to  keep  them.  (3)  He  directs  them  to  the  promi- 
ses, and  so  to  the  open  arms  of  Christ.  (4)  He  fills  them 
with  an  intense  abhorrence  of  their  backsliding,  by  the  cross 
of  Christ.  (5)  He  puts  it  into  their  heart  to  cleave  unto  him ; 
to  be  wary  and  watchful ;  to  renounce  all  self-dependance,  and 
evermore  to  press  forward  in  the  divine  life,  hungering  and 
thirsting. 

To  express  it  briefly,  he  heals  them  now  as  he  healed  them 
first,  by  the  cross  of  Christ,  by  the  unspeakable  love  of  the 
crucified  One.  Mere  conviction  does  not  heal.  Mere  atten- 
tion to  religion  does  not.  Mere  promises  of  amendment  do 
not.  Neither  does  forgetfulness  of  declension.  No  palliatives 
are  of  avail  here. 


January  24. — "  Sin  shall  not  have  dominion  over  3'^ou." — Rom.  vi.  14. 

A  most  important  declaration  to  him  who  has  fled  over  the 
borders,  and  taken  refuge  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  For  sin  is 
now  hateful  to  him,  and  the  idea  of  being  made  again  to  bow 
under  its  sceptre,  intolerable.  He  is  now  in  a  novel  region. 
Before,  even  all  his  days,  sin  had  dominion  over  him,  an  undi- 
vided sway.  He  found  out  the  cruelty  of  that  dominion,  and, 
trusting  in  a  divine  promise,  dared  to  flee.  He  is  now  made 
aware  that  all  the  powers  of  darkness  are  irritated  greatly,  and 
are  fierce  in  pursuit.  They  cry  in  his  ear,  that  his  flight  has 
been  in  vain,  and  that  he  will  soon  be  brought  again  under  the 
dominion  of  sin  And  at  times  also,  it  seems  as  though  he 
were  being  dragged  again  to  the  dread  dark  region ;  that  he 
will  not  be  able  to  continue  in  God's  marvellous  light.     Then 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  29 

lie  hears  the  delightful  declaration  that  sin  shall  not  have 
dominion  over  him;  an  assurance  that  gives  him  amazing 
strength,  and  enables  him  to  slay  more  enemies  than  Samson 
did.  Made  partaker  of  the  divine  nature  by  this  exceeding 
great  and  precious  promise,  he  bids  his  foes  observe  that  he  is 
no  longer  the  weak  and  helpless  captive  whom  they  once  knew. 
They  are  amazed  to  see  how  their  once-deadly  darts  are  now 
turned  aside  by  his  shield ;  how  their  weapons  are  shivered 
against  his  breast-plate ;  and  how  the  sword  in  his  hand  com- 
pels them  to  flee.  "  What !  this  slave  a  warrior  ?  this  captive 
a  free  man  ?  this  creature  of  our  will,  a  defier  of  our  sove- 
reignty ? — a  scorner  of  us  and  our  millions  ?"  Even  so.  The 
prince  of  this  world  is  cast  out  from  a  region  where  Christ  and 
the  followers  of  Christ  have  found  a  footing ;  a  region  whose 
limits  must  expand,  till  the  god  of  this  world  has  fought  his 
last  battle  and  sunk  to  his  appropriate  locality. 


January  25. — "And  he  that  overcometh  and  keepeth  my  works  unto 
the  end,  to  him  will  I  give  power  over  the  nations." — Revelation  ii.  26. 

One  of  the  resolutions  made  by  that  eminently  devoted  and 
successful  combatant  for  Christ,  President  Edwards,  was  to 
the  following  effect :  "  Resolved,  so  to  live  and  strive  as  I 
would  do  if  I  knew  that  only  one  man  of  this  generation  were 
to  be  saved,  and  I  were  fully  determined  to  be  that  man." 

This  seems  to  be  much  the  same  spirit  that  breathed  in  the 
words  of  Paul :  "  Know  ye  not  that  they  which  run  in  a  race 
run  all,  but  one  receiveth  the  prize  ?  So  run,  that  ye  may 
obtain.  I  therefore  so  run ;  so  fight  I."  The  principle  of  em- 
ulation is  abundantly  appealed  to  in  the  Bible ;  but  there  is  no 
selfishness  in  the  emulation  that  is  evoked  by  its  magnificent 
promises.  The  Christian  is  assured  that  his  gain,  so  far  from 
being  the  loss  of  others,  will  be  their  gain  also ;  and  the  greater 
his  gain,  the  more  will  his  path  be  strown  with  blessings  for 
3  * 


30  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

others.  What  he  is  called  to  overcome  is  self;  he  is  to  wage 
war  with  this  hydra-headed  monster,  this  protean  enemy  who 
is  no  sooner  defeated  under  one  form  than  he  appears  under 
another ;  and  the  promises  of  God  are  all  that  they  need  to  be 
in  order  that  the  soldier  of  Christ  may  have  the  utmost  possi- 
ble incitements  and  encouragements  in  the  prosecution  of  this 
strife. 

The  prize  that  animates  the  conquering  Christian  to  under- 
take new  conquests,  is  in  kind  like  that  which  animated  our 
Lord  himself,  namely,  the  power  to  bless  a  sin-cursed  world. 
The  highest  attainments  to  be  made  by  any  servant  of  Christ 
here  below,  are  to  be  made  under  the  constraining  influence 
of  an  intense  desire  to  glorify  Christ  in  the  salvation  of  men. 
It  is  as  we  have  this  spirit,  that  we  have  the  spirit  of  Christ. 
We  are  to  be  stimulated  in  our  hungering  and  thirsting  after 
righteousness,  not  only  by  the  weariness  of  our  own  unright- 
eousness, but  by  the  thought  of  the  unrighteousness  of  others ; 
not  only  by  the  desire  for  peace  and  joy  and  conscious  purity, 
but  by  an  ardent  and  sustained  aspiration  to  do  our  utmost 
(Christ's  utmost  in  us)  for  the  recovery  of  a  fallen  world. 

There  are  two  errors  that  follow  even  the  few  Christians 
that  go  furthest  in  the  divine  life.  One  is  this : — They  are 
very  eager  to  bring  men  to  Christ,  but  neglect  to  obtain  for 
themselves  experience  of  a  higher  and  more  thorough  work  of 
sanctification.  That  love  of  Christ  which  they  know,  they  abun- 
dantly proclaim,  and  are  rewarded  in  so  doing ;  but  there  are 
depths  in  Christ's  love  which  they  are  neglecting  to  explore. 
In  exploring  these  it  would  not  follow  that  some  of  their  use- 
fulness would  be  sacrificed.     The  contrary  would  be  the  result. 

The  second  error  is  that  of  those  who  give  themselves  too 
exclusively  to  the  cultivation  of  the  interior  life.  They  ar- 
dently desire  personal  holiness.  Their  soul  is  a  watered  gar- 
den ;  and  they  propose,  when  all  the  plants  shall  be  fruitful 
and  beauteous,  to  open  the  gates  that  others  may  come  in  and 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  31 

participate  in  their  treasures';  but  in  the  meantime  they  almost 
forget  the  world  without.  They  are  in  danger  of  falling  under 
the  power  of  an  insidious  form  of  spiritual  selfishness.  In 
the  Lord  Jesus,  see  the  most  uninterrupted  communion  with 
Grod,  and  the  most  unrestrained  communion  with^men.  He 
was  holy,  harmless,  undefiled  and  separate  from  sinners,  at  the 
same  time  that  he  was  going  about  doing  good.  To  be  like 
him,  is  the  highest  of  all  prizes.  We  seek  to  be  holy  as  he  is 
holy,  that  we  may  be  useful  as  he  was. 


January  26. — Being  confident  of  this  very  thing,  that  he  which  hath 
begun  a  good  work  in  you,  will  perform  it  until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ." — 
Philippians  i.  6. 

He  is  not  as  one  who  begins  to  build  without  having  counted 
the  cost.  Not  as  a  sculptor  who  begins  to  execute  a  work 
without  having  ascertained  the  impracticable  nature  of  his  ma- 
terial. These  are  the  shameful  mistakes  of  men.  God  is  not 
a  workman  that  will  need  to  be  ashamed.  He  has  called  to- 
gether a  goodly  company  of  the  nobility  of  heaven  to  look  on, 
while  he  brings  a  holy  creature  out  of  your  unholy  nature. 
Will  he  lay  down  his  implements  and  say,  "  I  miscalculated  ?" 

They  that  know  that  a  good  work  has  been  begun  in  them,  are 
entitled  to  entertain  an  unwavering  confidence  that  it  will  pro- 
ceed until  the  day  of  Christ,  when  the  believer  shall  be  pre- 
sented unblemished,  spotless,  perfect,  before  the  throne.  It 
proceeds  until  that  day.  It  is  not  begun,  relinquished,  begun 
again,  and  again  relinquished,  but  is  performed  until  the  day 
of  Christ.  So  you  have  not  to  go  to  the  past  to  know  if  a 
good  work  has  been  begun ;  it  exists  within  you  now.  The 
work  goes  on.  God  is  busied  with  you,  and  in  you,  while  you 
live.  From  your  first  perception  of  Christ  crucified,  to  your 
presentation  before  the  Lord  of  glory,  you  are  wrought  upon 
by  the  creative  power  of  God. 


32  -      DAILY    MEDITATIOXS. 

•January  27. — "Let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed  lest  he 
fall.-"— 1  Corinthians  x.  12. 

By  standing  is  here  meant  standing  in  the  favor  of  God. 
This  is  the  position  of  the  believer.  It  is  right  for  a  man  to 
think  that  he  stands,  if  there  he  sufficient  reasons  for  him  so 
to  think.  It  is  not  in  itself  a  fault  to  entertain  the  idea  that 
we  stand.  We  are  not  told  to  renounce  that  opinion.  "We 
may  entertain  it  even  with  the  greatest  confidence,  the  most 
unwavering  assurance.  The  words  of  the  text  suppose  indeed 
that  the  party  spoken  of  does  stand ',  for  it  is  only  one  that 
standeth  that  needs  an  admonition  to  beware  of  falling.  He 
that  is  down  needs  fear  no  fall.  He  has  not  recovered  from 
the  great  lapse ;  and  he  need  not  fear  to  lose  that  which  he 
has  never  gained.  The  admonition  he  needs  is,  "  to  stand." 
"  Awake  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead."  There 
are  very  many  who  regard  themselves  as  standing,  without  any 
evidence  whatever,  to  authorize  this  opinion.  The  words  of 
the  apostle  do  not  seem  to  relate  to  them.  This  idea  seeems 
rather  to  be,  "  Let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth,  make  mani- 
fest that  his  opinion  is  well-founded,  by  taking  heed  lest  he 
full."  The  true  believer,  one  that  truly  standeth,  is  one  that 
takes  such  heed.  The  mere  pretender  to  faith  is  one  that 
tliinks  it  quite  unnecessary  to  take  heed;  for  he  says,  '^  I 
stand." 

The  true 'believer  takes  heed,  by  considering,  and  ever  re- 
membering, the  number  and  strength  of  the  powers  that  are 
bent  on  making  him  flill.  He  understands  that  a  hostile  force 
is  out  against  him ;  and  is  bringing  incredible  craft,  industry, 
and  might  to  bear  upon  one  point — his  overthrow.  lie  is 
aware  that  his  enemy  can  assume  all  sorts  of  disguises ;  and 
can  approach  him  as  a  minstrel,  playing  seraphic  airs  upon  the 
harp,  and  singing  the  Psalms  of  David.  He  knows,  too,  that 
these  foes  have  the  enormous  power  that  resides  in  invisibility, 
and  can  launch  their  fiery  darts  at  him  with  hands  unseen. 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS,  33 

He  lias  not  merely  learnt  this  from  God's  word ;  but  also  from 
experience. 

He  takes  heed,  by  remembering  his  own  weakness.  He 
knows  that  the  most  feeble  missile  in  the  world,  the  most  con- 
temptible temptation,  can  make  him  totter. 

He  takes  heed,  by  availing  himself  of  the  strength  of  God 
in  Christ  Jesus.  Daily  and  hourly  he  seeks  wisdom,  strength, 
and  holiness  from  the  Captain  of  his  salvation.  He  takes 
heed,  by  following  this  Captain,  whithersoever  he  leads,  even 
though  it  were  into  the  most  dangerous-looking  places,  for  the 
path  traced  by  his  Leader  and  Commander  is  the  only  path  of 
salvation. 


January  28. — "When  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall 
ye  also  appear  with  him  in  glory." — Colossians  iii,  4. 

"  In  thy  favor  is  life."  When  Adam  sinned,  he  lost  the 
favor  of  God,  and  thus  he  died.  This  is  the  worst  of  all 
deaths;  for  all  other  deaths  are  just  the  expression  of  God's 
disfavor.  Ask  one  of  the  lost  in  hell  when  he  died,  and  he 
will  rightly  tell  you  that  it  was  when  he  lost  the  divine  favor. 
When  a  man  comes  to  Christ,  he  finds  what  Adam  lost  and 
what  Adam  doubtless  regained, — the  favor  of  God,  life  in  the 
highest  sense ;  for  all  the  other  things  called  life  are  but  the 
expressions  of  this  favor. 

Christ  is  our  life.  He  has  brought  us  into  the  region  of 
life,  the  region  of  God's  everlasting  smiles.  He  has  put  life 
within  us — namely,  the  hatred  of  sin,  the  love  of  the  Holy 
One,  the  knowledge  of  self.  He  has  given  us  the  Spirit  that 
dwells  in  himself,  and  in  the  angels.  He  has  reconciled  us  to 
the  will  of  God.  This  is  the  beginning.  But  in  himself  exists 
an  infinite  remainder  yet  uncommunicated.  He  is  called  our 
life,  not  merely  because  he  became  to  us  the  source  of  life,  but 


34  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

because  we  live  only  by  virtue  of  our  union  to  him.     Apart 
from  bim  we  liave  no  existence ;  we  are  in  tbe  abyss. 

We  read  much  of  the  future  manifestation  of  the  Son  of 
G  od ;  we  also  read  of  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God. 
Our  text  declares  that  these  two  are  identical.  His  and  our 
manifestation  in  glory  shall  be  consentaneous.  And  believers 
are  taught  to  look  forward  to  both  these  events  or  to  this  two- 
fold event.  This  is  the  special  scope  of  their  aspirations. 
And  not  of  theirs  only,  but  the  whole  creation  groaneth  and 
travaileth,  waiting  for  this,  which  will  be  its  redemption  from 
the  indignities  and  burden  of  sin. 


January  29. — "Behold,  the  eye  of  the  Lord  is  upon  them  that  fear 
him,  upon  them  that  hope  in  his  mercy." — Psalm  xxxiii.  18. 

There  is  a  hope  that  cannot  exist  without  fear,  and  a  fear 
that  should  not  be  dissevered  from  hope.  There  is  a  fear 
that  is  obnoxious  to  perfect  love ;  that  is,  a  fear  that  has  tor- 
ment in  it ;  it  must  be  cast  out,  and  sent  to  its  own  place — the 
bosom  of  the  evil  one.  But  the  fear  we  speak  of,  angels  would 
not  be  without  for  worlds ;  and  saints  cannot  be  without  it. 
You  may  call  it  a  loving  solicitude  to  have  Christ  abiding  in 
the  heart  by  faith ;  to  do  our  heavenly  Father's  will,  without 
deviation  or  diminution.  This  fear  is  its  own  guarantee,  that 
the  things  feared  will  not  come  to  pass.  Like  one  that  pos- 
sesses some  potent  spell  by  which  every  conceivable  danger 
may  be  obviated,  he  has  just  so  much  fear  of  evil  as  hinders 
him  from  forgetting  the  spell ;  while  the  conscious  possession 
of  the  spell  fills  him  with  joy  in  the  sense  of  all-sufficient 
strength,  and  with  a  hopeful,  confident  anticipation  of  final 
everlasting  victory. 

The  eye  of  the  Lord  is  upon  such.  They  hope  in  his  mercy 
because  they  are  already,  and  are  hourly,  the  recipients  of  his 
mercy.     They  know  that  his  eye  beams  with  loving-kindness, 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  35 

and  it  is  a  foretaste  of  heaven  to  know  that  his  eye  is  upon 
them.  Their  works  are  done  for  his  eye.  Their  conduct  ap- 
pears strange  to  men;  and  men  ask,  ""Who  is  the  spectator  for 
whom  these  strange  actions  are  performed  ?"  They  go  boldly 
forth,  lambs  among  wolves,  because  the  Good  Shepherd  has  his 
eye  upon  them.  He  guides  them  with  his  eye.  When  they 
discover  that  they  are  quitting  the  path  of  his  approving 
glance,  they  hasten  back. 

They  meet  the  eye  of  the  Lord  in  prayer,  and  in  praise. 

They  meet  it  in  the  study  of  his  word. 

They  meet  it  in  the  exercise  of  faith. 

They  meet  it  in  their  labors  for  the  good  of  men. 

They  meet  it  when  men  frown  and  rage. 

In  the  calm  and  in  the  storm ',  at  noon  day  and  in  the  dead 
of  night ;  in  sickness  and  bereavements ;  in  health  and  deliver- 
ances. The  eye  of  the  Lord  was  upon  the  disciples  when  they 
were  toiling  in  rowing ;  when  they  were  sad,  dispirited,  be- 
wildered on  the  lake  of  Gennesareth.  They  should  have 
known  that  it  was,  but  did  not  discover  it  till  afterwards.  Let 
us  beware  lest  our  little  faith  hinder  us  from  seeing  the  eye  of 
the  Lord,  when  things  seem  contrary  and  wearisome. 


January  30. — "  Ye  shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Al- 
mighty."— 2  Corinthians  vi.  18. 

This  is  the  portion  of  those  that  come  out  from  the  world 
and  are  separated.  Adam  was  called  the  son  of  God ;  for  God 
breathed  his  own  Spirit  into  him,  and  created  him  in  his  own 
image.  The  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy  at  the  dawn  of  mun- 
dane things,  and  most  of  all,  when  they  saw  their  new  brother, 
the  inhabitant  of  Eden.  In  order  that  we  might  recover  the 
knowledge  of  what  is  meant  by  the  expression,  "  Son  of  God," 
Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world.     The  Father  speaking  from 


36  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

heaven,  bade  us  look  on  liim  and  recognize  the  type  of  what 
we  were  called  to  be. 

The  great  things  in  sonship  are  identity  of  nature  and  iden- 
tity of  interests.  Along  with  the  identity  of  nature  there  is 
subordination ;  which  is  for  the  purpose  of  giving  scope  to  the 
Father's  love  and  capacity  to  bless.  The  Father  recognizes  the 
interests  of  the  son  as  his,  and  looks  upon  all  J?.is  property,  his 
treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge,  his  resources  created  and 
uncreated,  with  reference  to  the  blessing  and  glorifying  of  his 
sons  and  daughters.  To  acknowledge  a  son  is  to  acknowledge 
an  heir.  The  Father's  house  is  the  house  of  the  son  and  of 
the  daughter :  they  may  go  in  without  knocking ;  the  man- 
sions are  prepared  for  them. 

The  world  does  not  know  you,  sons  and  daughters  of  Grod. 
That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,  and  the  world  knows 
of  no  other  birth  than  this :  but  ye.  are  born  of  God.  Un- 
known and  invisible  to  others,  your  Father  is  the  Lord  of  the 
universe.  Daily  you  ask  and  receive ;  you  are  in  constant  in- 
tercourse with  him ;  you  sleep  not  without  his  blessing ;  you 
act  not  without  his  counsel  3  you  suffer  not  without  his  con- 
solation. 

We  know  not  what  we  shall  be,  for  we  know  not  yet  what 
Christ  is.  We  know  in  part.  Christ  came  to  teach  one  half 
of  the  lesson ;  he  will  come  again  to  teach  the  other  half.  We 
shall  see  him  as  he  is,  and  not  as  he  was,  when  on  the  earth  in 
a  state  of  humiliation.  Then  will  our  exile  be  ended ;  the 
righteous  shall  shine  forth  in  the  kingdom  of  their  Father. 


January  31. — "  Cast  thy  burden  upon  the  Lord,  and  he  shall  sustain 
thee/'— Psalm  Iv.  22. 

Who  is  there  that  hath  not  a  burden  ? — who  that  stands  in 
no  need  of  relief? 

The  burden  of  ignorance  weighs  heavy  on  one  man.     He 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  37 

finds  himself  so  lamentably  in  the  dark  with  regard  to  many 
most  important  things.  The  burden  of  responsibility  weighs 
heavy  on  another.  The  burden  of  some  secret  frailty,  some 
unconquerable  weakness  oppresses  another.  The  burden  of 
doubt  is  crushing  to  this  sin-tormented  soul.  The  burden  of 
mortality,  the  fear  of  death,  is  more  than  another  can  bear. 
The  burden  of  levity  and  thoughtlessness  is  heavier  to  some 
than  is  generally  supposed.  To  one  and  all  the  command  is, 
"  Cast  thy  burden  upon  the  Lord." 

Many  go  staggering  under  the  burdens  of  life,  cursing  God 
as  they  stagger  along.  What  do  they  wish  ?  That  God 
should  give  Satan  authority  to  remove  their  burdens  ?  or,  make 
Satan's  yoke  easy  and  his  burden  light  ?  No ;  God  reserves  it 
as  his  own  distinctive  privilege  to  lighten  the  burdens  of  mor- 
tals, "  Come  unto  me,''  says  Christ,  "  and  ye  shall  find 
rest." 

How  is  a  man  to  cast  his  burden  upon  the  Lord  ?  By  faith 
in  the  Lord's  promise.  He  must  stop  groaning,  and  helieve. 
He  must  go  to  his  task  in  prayer,  expecting  that  an  unseen 
hand  will  take  hold  of  the  wheel  simultaneously  with  his  own, 
and  lift  it  out  of  the  mire.  If  he  has  to  speak,  he  must  lay 
hold  of  the  promise  and  look  for  a  mouth  and  wisdom  that 
none  shall  be  able  to  gainsay  or  resist.  We  are  not  to  suppose 
any  burden  too  small  to  take  to  God.  If  we  think  it  small, 
and  seek  no  help,  it  will  grow  in  bulk  till  we  are  crushed  be- 
neath it. 

He  will  not  remove  your  burden  so  that  you  shall  have 
nothing  to  do,  no  more  need  of  him ;  but  he  will  sustain  you — 
he  will  administer  support,  so  that  men  shall  wonder  to  see  you 
walking  with  such  alacrity,  to  hear  you  singing  so  blithely  with 
a  great  burden  upon  you.  Then  will  you  tell  them  of  the  sus- 
taining hand. 

Cast,  then,  thy  burden  on  the  Lord,  and  he  shall  sustain 
thee. 

4 


38  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

February  1. — "  "What  time  I  am  afraid,  I  will  trust  in  thee." — Psalm 
Ivi.  3. 

David  was  not  a  man  unsusceptible  of  fear ;  nor  was  he 
ashamed  to  confess  that  he  could  fear.  Often  he  makes  the 
confession.  In  this  he  was  braver  than  many.  But  David 
stood  firm,  when  a  thousand  brave  men  would  have  fled.  Few 
shepherds  would  have  stood  by  their  sheep,  on  the  approach  of 
a  bear ;  fewer,  on  the  approach  of  a  lion ;  but  David,  the  strip- 
ling, did  this :  he  met  the  bear  and  conquered  it ;  he  fought 
the  lion  and  destroyed  it.  Afterward  he  met  him  before  whom 
the  whole  Israelitish  army  cowered  and  quailed.  There  were 
doubtless  in  that  army  the  usual  proportion  of  brave  and  gal- 
lant captains,  and  dauntless  soldiers.  David  was  a  timid  youth, 
in  comparison  with  them.  He  had  no  self-confidence,  no  con- 
tempt of  danger.  He  knew  his  own  weakness.  But  he  had 
one  glorious  resource.  He  had  a  mighty  friend  in  Grod,  and 
Grod  was  with  him ;  with  him  when  he  met  the  bear  and  the 
lion;  with  him  when  he  met  Goliath. 

Faith  is  true  courage.  It  is  the  courage  of  discretion ;  the 
courage  of  man  rather  than  that  of  the  beast.  Some  go  in 
battle  like  the  war-horse,  crying,  "Aha,  aha;"  and  with  no 
other  courage  than  that  of  the  war-horse.  They  glory  in  their 
shame.  Their  courage  is  contempt  of  God.  They  disclaim 
his  aid.  Their  own  right  arm  is  their  divinity,  a  divinity 
that  may  be  brought  into  dust  by  a  few  grains  of  powder. 
Thousands  of  the  world's  heroes  have  taken  hell  by  storm ; 
carved  their  way  through  mighty  obstacles  and  amid  acclama- 
tions, to  a  citadel  where  they  found  Satan  enthroned,  and  a  pas- 
sage to  the  bottomless  abyss.  Courage,  without  God,  is  a  de- 
fiance of  the  Omnipotent  one,  and  an  invocation  of  his  wrath. 
Paul,  like  David,  speaks  of  himself  as  often  in  fear  and  tremb- 
ling. He  discourses  largely  of  his  own  weakness.  But  like 
David  he  strengthened  himself  in  the  strength  of  God,  and 
came  ofi"  more  than  conqueror. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  39 

The  resolution  expressed  in  tlie  words  of  tlie  text  is  equally 
a  resolution  to  walk  in  tlie  ways  of  God's  appointment.  They 
that  seek  forbidden  paths  will  find  nothing  for  their  fiiith  to 
take  hold  of 


FEBnuARy  2, — "  The  Lord's  portion  is  his  people,  Jacob  is  the  lot  of  his 
inheritance." — Deuteronomy  xxxii.  9. 

Canaan  was  divided  among  the  ancient  people  of  God.  Each 
tribe  had  its  portion.  The  question  might  have  been  asked, 
What  portion  has  the  Lord  reserved  for  himself?  The  answer 
would  have  been,  "  The  people  of  God  are  his  portion.  They 
are  his  peculiar  possession  in  the  earth.  They  are  his  habita- 
tion. Not  merely  the  first  fruits,  not  merely  the  Sabbaths,  not 
merely  the  firstling  of  the  flock  : — all  is  his.  The  people  are 
his ;  their  allegiance,  their  service  belong  to  him.'' 

So  it  was  then,  so  it  is  now.  God  has  never  ceased  to  have 
a  people  in  the  world  from  the  beginning  to  the  present  time. 
They  stand  in  covenant  relations  to  him.  In  vain  will  you 
give  him  anything  else.  Flocks,  gold,  silver,  church-edifices — 
he  takes  them  to  the  one  side,  and  waits  for  thee  to  give  fh?/- 
self,  thy  heart,  thine  understanding,  thy  body ;  this  give ;  this 
is  the  only  portion  he  will  accept.  Give  thyself  to  him,  and 
he  will  give  himself  to  thee.  Give  thy  heart  to  him ;  he  will 
purify  it  from  all  its  defilements,  and  abide  therein.  Give  thy 
understanding,  and  he  will  open  all  its  windows  and  pour  the 
true  light  of  day  into  all  its  chambers.  Give  thy  body,  and 
he  will  make  it  like  unto  Christ's  glorious  body. 

Satan  is  the  god  of  this  world.  But  the  Lord  has  a  portion 
in  it.  There  is  the  beginning  of  his  kingdom  in  it.  Fear 
not,  little  flock !  you  are  given  to  the  Lord ;  and  it  is  your 
Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  you  the  Kingdom,  A  few  feet 
of  ground  have  been  the  beginning  of  more  than  one  mighty 
empire. 


40  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

Februarys. — ''Be  watchful  and  strengthen  the  things  which  remain 
that  are  ready  to  die;  for  I  have  not  found  thy  works  perfect  before 
God." — Revelation  iii.  2. 

Tlie  cliiircli  of  Sardis,  as  a  whole,  miglit  be  spoken  of  as 
dead.  The  ordinances  of  religion  were  indeed  maintained  and 
attended ;  the  word  read ;  prayer  offered ;  the  communion  par- 
taken. In  the  estimation  of  many  of  the  members,  the  church 
was  anything  but  dead ;  but  their  conception  of  a  living  church 
was  different  from  Christ's ;  and  he  pronounced  it  dead :  dead, 
as  a  church.  Yet  was  not  vital  godliness  altogether  extinct ; 
some  believers  there  were ;  and  their  position  was  one  of  great 
responsibility  and  danger.  The  standard  of  practical  piety  in 
the  mind  of  each  one,  is  modified  by  the  standard  that  prevails 
in  the  church.  It  is  immensely  difficult  to  hold  fast  to  our 
conception  of  the  piety  that  becomes  a  Christian,  when  very 
inferior  conceptions  are  almost  universal  around  us.  So,  too, 
when  a  higher  standard  than  ours  is  prominently  exhibited 
around  us.  But  let  every  one  that  loves  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  consider  that  the  failures  of  others,  as  well  as  the  graces 
of  others,  powerfully  urge  us  to  redouble  our  zeal.  If  the  ship 
is  buffeted  by  some  violent  tempest,  and  many  of  the  hands  re- 
fuse to  exert  themselves  for  the  salvation  of  the  vessel,  it  is 
only  the  more  incumbent  upon  the  few  faithful  found  to  put 
forth  their  best  energies.  If  few  love  the  Saviour,  there  is 
more  need  that  I  should  love  him  to  the  utmost  of  my  capa- 
city. The  Spirit  of  God  would  certainly  have  me  draw  this 
argument  from  the  supineness,  the  unfaithfulness,  the  worldli- 
ness  of  other  Christians.  It  is  bad  enough  that  a  dead  Chris- 
tianity should  exert  its  baneful  influence  upon  the  world ;  why 
should  the  few  earnest  Christians  allow  it  to  plunder  them  of 
half  of  their  earnestness  ?  Christ  must  have  his  tribute.  If 
others  out  and  out  refuse  to  pay  it,  or  pay  it  in  part  only,  let 
me  the  more  zealously  pay  it  in  the  full  measure,  pressed  down 
and  running  over.     Upon  the  countenance  of  one  we  love,  we 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  41 

trace  easily  the  slightest  indication  of  weakness ;  and  if  we 
love  tlie  cliiircli  which  Christ  has  purchased  with  his  blood,  we 
shall  not  fail  to  notice  every  unfavorable  symptom  that  ap- 
pears. Without  commissioning  our  thoughts  to  travel  all  the 
way  to  Sardis,  we  may  enquire  how  it  is  with  us  and  with  the 
church  to  which  we  belong  ?  Are  there  any  indications  of  de- 
cay ?  Does  the  word  of  God  take  eiFeet  ?  Does  the  work  of 
God  advance  ?  Are  souls  quickened  ?  Is  there  joy  in  God  ? 
Is  faith  in  Christ  radiant  in  the  countenances  and  beautiful  in 
the  conduct  of  our  company  ?  Or  is  there  an  air  of  languor, 
of  indifference,  of  lifelessness  visible  ?  Are  the  prayer-meet- 
ino;s  neo-lected  ?  Sacrifices  discontinued  ?  Reliorious  conver- 
sation  omitted  ?     Excuses  welcomed  ?     Burdens  deprecated  ? 


February  4, —  *  lie  will  keep  the  feet  of  his  saints." — 1  Samuel  ii.  9. 

We  have  here  the  perseverance  of  the  saints. 

God  will  keep  the  foot  of  those  who  walk  in  his  paths. 
They  are  saints,  inasmuch  as  the  Holy  Spirit  dwelleth  in  them, 
as  they  are  born  of  God,  walk  by  faith,  renounce  the  idea  of 
their  natural  holiness,  and  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteous- 
ness. Their  feet  he  will  keep.  He  will  not  keep  the  feet  of 
those  who  simply  seek  to  be  kept  from  eternal  perdition ;  but 
of  those  who  wish  to  be  kept  from  all  steps  that  accord  not 
with  the  glory  of  God.  He  will  keep  the  feet  of  those  who 
commit  all  their  steps  unto  his  keeping. 

He  will  keep  them  from  frequenting  the  society  of  the 
wicked.  From  approaching  the  precipice  of  temptation. 
From  that  prosperity  which  bringeth  a  snare.  From  circum- 
stances that  are  likely  to  be  adverse  to  their  piety  and  useful- 
ness. From  the  burden  of  care,  and  from  the  excessive  prcs-- 
sure  of  responsibility.  From  erroneous  doctrines.  From  vain 
speculations.     From  supineness  and  a  blind  confidence.     From 

4  *- 


42  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

the  fear  of  death.  From  a  serious  misinterpretation  of  his 
providences. 

He  will  not  keep  them  from  trials,  privations,  bereavements, 
worldly  losses,  perplexing  combinations,  inward  conflicts,  the 
tongue  of  slander  and  the  misjudgment  of  friends.  But  he 
will  keep  them  under  these,  and  bring  them  off  more  than 
conquerors. 

He  will  keep  them  by  the  promises.  By  the  command- 
ments. By  the  example  of  Christ.  By  that  of  other  saints, 
departed  or  contemporary.  By  good  words,  printed  or  spoken. 
By  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  By  the  Sabbath  and  by 
prayer-meetings.  By  giving  them  the  love  of  private  prayer. 
By  leading  them  to  self-examination. 

Sometimes,  when  a  broad  sea  stretches  before  them,  they  are 
ready  to  say,  "  We  are  safer  where  we  are."  But  the  enemy 
presses  upon  them,  and  they  have  to  go  forward.  Then  a  path 
is  opened  for  them  through  the  depths  of  the  sea,  and  their 
feet  are  kept.  Sometimes  a  mighty  ocean  expands  before 
them,  and  beyond  that  the  hov^ding  wilderness  of  an  unknown 
world ;  behind  them  fires  are  kindled ;  a  side  path  invites  them 
to  ease,  opulence  and  honor :  but  the  promise  to  keep  their 
feet  is  valid  only  in  that  path  which  crosses  the  billows  of  the 
ocean,  and  lands  them  on  a  savage  coast;  and  they  follow  it, 
singing  the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb. 


February  5. — "If  thou  seek  him  he  will  be  found  of  thee." — 1  Chron- 
icles xxviii.  9. 

Observe,  there  is  an  if  in  the  case.  The  prize  exhibited  is 
obtainable  on  a  condition.  There  is  a  glorious  certainty;  but 
it  exists  only  in  a  particular  path. 

If  f/iow  seek  him.  The  words  stop  with  thee.  It  does  not 
glance  by  thee  to  another.  The  question  is  not,  "  What  shall 
this  man  do?" — "Are  there  many  that  be  saved?"    But,  "Wilt 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  43 

tJiou  seek  liim  V  Unless  tllou  canst  distinctly  prove  that  he 
has  been  found  of  thee,  this  word  will  not  let  thee  go.  Its  er- 
rand from  heaven  is  to  thee,  and  it  must  take  back  a  report 
from  thee. 

If  thou  seek  him.  Not  enquire  about  him,  read  about  him, 
hear  about  him,  desire  him;  but  seek  him.  Seek  him  in  his 
word, — with  exj^ectation, — with  faith, — with  prayer, — with 
obedience, — with  perseverance ;  in  his  providences ;  in  his  peo- 
ple ;  in  the  new  operations  of  your  own  heart ;  in  the  monitions 
of  the  Spirit. 

If  you  seek  Him.  The  chiefest  among  ten  thousands.  The 
Rose  of  Sharon  and  the  Lily  of  the  valley.  God  manifest  in 
the  flesh.  The  fountain  of  life.  Even  Him  whose  command- 
ments you  have  broken ;  whose  curse  you  deserve;  whom  an- 
gels adore ;  who  upholdeth  all  things ;  who  is  unsought,  a  con- 
suming fire ',  but  who  is,  when  sought,  a  Grod  of  love. 

He  will  be  found  of  thee.  He  will  not  send  his  angel  to 
console  thee.  He  will  not  refer  you  to  some  created  mediator ; 
nor  to  his  works,  his  benefits.  He,  the  infinite  One,  in  whom 
arc  all  conceivable  and  inconceivable  treasures  of  blessing,  he 
will  be  found  of  thee. 

He  icill  he  found  of  thee.  He  is  willing  to  be  found.  If  he 
is  not  in  the  fore-ground  of  your  possessions,  it  is  simply  that 
your  desire  for  him  may  be  expressed  in  search.  He  will  be 
found,  certainly.  The  thing  is  beyond  all  doubt ;  for  yoa  seek 
him.  Let  this  assurance  sustain  you  under  present  disappoint- 
ment and  privation. 

Of  thee.  Yes,  even  of  thee.  Why  not?  The  greatest 
saints  that  ever  lived  were  as  mean  in  origin,  as  poor  in  re- 
sources, as  obnoxious  to  wrath,  as  plagued  with  an  evil  heart, 
as  unbelieving  as  thou  art.  All  thy  opprobrious  characteristics 
do  not  equipoise  this  one  new  and  blessed  peculiarity  that  thou 
Bcekest  him. 


44  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

February  6. — "  Acquaint  now  thyself  with  him,  and  be  at  peace." — 
Job  xxii.  21. 

Scarcely  with  anything  can  man  be  properly  said  to  be  ac- 
quainted. He  is  painfully  alive  to  the  fact  of  his  limited  com- 
prehension of  even  the  least  department  of  the  works  of  God ; 
yet  has  no  trouble  at  heart  on  the  score  of  his  want  of  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Lord  of  the  universe.  "  Grod,  I  know," 
says  one ;  "  leave  me  alone  with  regard  to  any  account  of  him. 
See,  I  am  very  busy  in  the  study  of  these  caterpillars ;  your 
talk  of  Grod  hinders  me  from  getting  some  valuable  know- 
ledge.'' "  Why  is  this  Sabbath  coming  perpetually  in,"  says 
another,  "  to  hinder  me  from  pursuing  my  experiments  in 
Natural  Philosophy  ?  With  Grod  I  am  acquainted ;  but  I  have 
many  discoveries  to  make  in  electro-magnetism." 

We  have  here  a  positive  command.  We  think  it  very  kind 
of  some  great  man,  to  encourage  us  to  make  his  acquaintance. 
The  greatest  of  all  beings,  the  fountain  of  all  excellence,  en- 
courages us,  commands  us  even,  to  become  acquainted  with 
him.  Shall  we  go  to  heaven  to  become  acquainted  with  him  ? 
No,  he  comes  to  us.  He  stands  at  the  door  and  knocks.  He 
has  hidden  so  much  of  his  glory  as  would  have  awed  and  in- 
timidated us.  He  has  taken  the  form  of  a  man  that  this  ac- 
quaintanceship might  be  easily  effected.  He  was  acquainted 
with  grief,  that  h,e  might  become  acquainted  with  him  and 
with  peace.  Acquaintance  is  not  perfected  in  an  instant.  It 
may  be  carried,  in  some  happy  hour,  to  a  wonderful  extent. 
But  it  is  essentially  a  thing  of  cultivation. 

There  is  a  false  peace  based  on  misconceptions  of  God.  The 
beginning  of  a  true  acquaintance  breaks  up  this  and  perhaps 
fills  the  soul  with  terrors.  But  shrink  not  ]  go  on ;  acquaint 
thyself  with  him;  press  into  his  palace;  take  no  heed  of 
seraphic  guards  whose  swords  turn  every  way ;  seek  the  private 
apartments  of  the  king,  and  hesitate  not  to  sit  down  in  his 
banquet-chamber.     Converse    with     thy    Maker;    confide   all 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  45 

things  to  him ;  make  those  gaiards  your  own ;  that  palace  your 
house;  that  majesty  your  defence;  the  blessedness  of  that  di- 
vine atmosphere  your  portion ;  and  from  the  sublime  position 
to  which  the  Prince  of  peace  has  brought  you,  look  down  with 
serene  compassion  on  a  world  where  the  peace  of  God  has  been 
offered  and  rejected,  daily,  for  thousands  of  years;  and  where 
strife,  torment  and  confusion  must  reign  till  men  are  willing  to 
acquaint  themselves  with  God. 


FEBnuARY  7. — "And  round  about  the  throne  were  four  and  twenty 
seats:  and  upon  the  seats  were  four  and  twenty  elders  sitting,  clothed  in 
white  raiment ;  and  they  had  on  their  heads  crowns  of  gold." — Revela- 
tion iv.  4. 

Our  translators  have  shown  an  unnecessary  timidity,  in  sub- 
stituting the  word  "  seats'^  for  "  thrones."  The  original  is  : 
"  And  round  about  the  throne,  thrones  twenty  and  four."  "  I 
am  glorified  in  them,"  said  Christ.  Their  glory  does  not  de- 
tract from  his  glory,  any  more  than  his  from  the  Father's ;  but 
their  glory  is  his  glory.  Christ  is  enthroned  over  again  and 
crowned  over  again,  in  every  redeemed  one  who  is  brought  up 
out  of  the  horrible  pit  and  miry  clay  of  sin,  and  advanced  to 
a  stupendous  height  of  felicity  and  glory.  "  On  his  head  were 
many  crowns."  How  many  ?  As  many  as  there  are  sinners 
redeemed  through  his  blood. 

"Who  are  these  four  and  twenty  presbyters  whose  thrones 
compass  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  ?  They  them- 
selves tell  us  in  their  new  song  given  in  the  next  chapter : 
"  Thou  wast  slain  and  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood, 
out  of  every  kindred  and  tongue  and  people  and  nation." 
They  represent  the  entire  host  of  the  redeemed  as  it  shall  be 
after  the  day  of  full  evangelization.  The  redeemed  were  to 
be  brought  immediately  to  the  throne  of  God ;  they  were  to 
sit  upon  the  very  thrones  that  constituted  a  part  of  God's 


46  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

throne ;  and  further,  tlie  representation,  while  looking  forward 
to  the  day  of  complete  triumph,  is  intended  to  take  in  all  the 
generations  of  believers  ever  living  on  the  earth,  and  to  be 
good  for  the  days  of  incompleteness.  Twenty-four  are  selected 
for  the  whole,  perhaps,  because  there  were  twenty-four  courses 
of  priests;  and  under  the  present  dispensation,  all  believers 
are  priests  and  kings,  (v.  10.)  We  are  risen  with  Christ. 
We  sit  with  him  in  heavenly  places.  We  are  come  unto  the 
city  of  the  living  Grod.  In  John's  vision  we  are  actually  per- 
mitted to  see  ourselves  in  heaven.  Looking  at  the  throne  of 
God  and  of  the  Lamb,  we  find  ourselves  there ;  the  glory  of 
the  place  would,  it  appears,  be  incomplete,  without  the  re- 
deemed and  the  glory  which  Christ  has  purchased  for  them. 
We  ourselves  become  to  ourselves  objects  of  faith.  Believe 
in  Grod,  believe  also  in  me,  said  Christ ;  and  we  do  so ;  we  be- 
lieve in  him  unseen,  believe  in  him  upon  the  throne ;  and  we 
are  to  believe  in  ourselves  now  in  heaven  with  Christ ;  as  we 
believe  in  his  glory,  so  we  should  believe  in  our  own.  Satan 
arrayed  before  the  eyes  of  our  Lord  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world  and  the  glory  of  them,  and  said,  All  these  will  I  give 
thee.  But  the  Spirit  of  God  gives  us  a  vision  of  the  throne 
of  God,  and  of  thrones  prepared  for  the  redeemed  in  the  very 
midst  of  the  inhabitants  of  heaven,  and  says,  "  All  these  the 
Lord  giveth  thee." 

It  must  be  that  Christians  are  marvellously  without  faith, 
seeing  that  the  honors  and  the  dignities  of  this  world  have  so 
much  attraction  in  their  eyes,  so  much  power  to  sway  their 
movements.  What  manner  of  men  should  we  be  in  all  holy 
conversation  and  godliness  ?  He  that  is  last  of  all  and  servant 
of  all,  the  same  shall  be  chief  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  If 
we  die  with  him,  we  shall  reign  with  him.  Our  life  is  to  be  a 
protest,  the  strongest  we  can  make  it,  against  that  love  of  the 
world,  that  delight  in  the  world's  pleasures  and  treasures  and 
dignities,  that  stand  between  the  souls  of  men  and  salvation. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  47 

"  As  tliou,  Father,  art  in  me  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also 
may  be  one  in  us."  The  inconceivably  intimate  union  of  the 
believer  with  God,  is  set  forth  in  two  ways.  Christ  says,  we 
shall  come  unto  him  and  make  our  abode  with  him;  God 
dweUcth  in  us.  The  other  way  is  by  a  representation  of  God 
enthroned  in  heaven,  and  believers  on  thrones  encompassing 
that  throne.  The  question  is.  What  is  the  heaven  of  your 
heart  ?     Is  self  on  the  central  throne,  or,  is  God  there  ? 


February  8. — "God  resisteth  the  proud." — 1  Pet.  v.  5. 

Pride  is  robbery.  It  is  the  robbery  of  that  which  is  most 
precious  and  sacred  in  the  universe,  namely,  the  glory  of  God. 
To  the  Maker  of  the  universe  belongs  all  the  glory  of  the  uni- 
verse. Pride  takes  its  stand  over  against  God  and  defies  him. 
It  claims  for  itself  the  tribute  that  belongs  to  God ;  and  would 
have  all  eyes  directed  to  itself,  all  knees  bent  before  itself. 
God  must  resist  pride  :  resist  it  when  angels  sin  ]  when  men 
build  a  tower  of  Babel ;  when  men  say  of  the  voice  of  Herod, 
''  it  is  the  voice  of  a  God."  He  must  resist  it  for  the  sake  of 
truth ;  for  the  vindication  of  himself;  for  the  safety  of  his 
Church ;  for  the  well-being  of  the  universe ;  for  the  satisfaction 
of  angels ;  for  the  chastisement  of  the  wicked. 

But  do  you  know  who  are  the  proud  ?  Do  not  err.  You 
think  of  them  as  a  particular  class,  of  whom  you  occasionally 
meet  one,  and  who  are  generally  disliked  by  men.  But  these 
are  simply  those  whose  pride  manifests  itself  offensively  to 
mankind.  Men  are  all  proud,  even  the  universal  family  of 
man ;  and  those  only  are  escaping  from  the  stigma  who  have 
deeply  repented  of  sin,  renounced  all  confidence  in  their  own 
goodness,  avouched  themselves  bankrupts  in  the  sight  of  God 
and  man,  received  the  whole  testimony  of  the  Scripture,  be- 
lieved in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  through  him  approached 
the  throne  of  grace. 


48  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

God  resists  the  proud,  by  awakening  in  their  breast  a  mon- 
itor to  remind  them  of  their  sin,  weakness  and  ignorance ;  by 
letting  them  pursue  the  course  they  proudly  chose  for  them- 
selves, and  taste  the  bitter  fruits  thereof;  by  the  example  of 
Christ's  sublime  humility;  by  the  unhappiness  and  morbid 
sensitiveness  that  wait  on  pride;  by  his  providences  which 
leave  them  shorn  of  the  things  they  glory  in ;  sometimes  even 
by  the  insults  of  men. 

You  are  resisted  in  your  prayers  and  know  not  the  reason. 
The  difficulty  is  that  there  are  enormous  pits  of  unworthiness 
within  you,  over  which  pride  has  cast  its  mantle.  Seek  to 
know  these,  to  hate  them,  and  to  have  them  filled  with  re- 
generating grace,  and  you  will  no  more  be  thwarted  in  your 
prayers. 

You  are  resisted  in  your  attempts  to  do  good,  and  wonder 
greatly  at  this.  But  you  have  not  a  single  eye.  You  are 
ready  to  take  honor  to  yourself.  Humble  yourself  and  become 
a  simple  steward,  a  conveyancer  of  God's  mercies. 


February  9. — "  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life." — John  xi.  25. 

The  resurrection  because  the  life.  He  is  the  life,  in  that  by 
him  our  souls  live  before  God,  and  draw  from  the  everlasting 
fulness  of  divine  grace,  and  are  changed  into  the  image  of  our 
heavenly  Father.  He  is  the  life  that  came  into  the  world  by 
one  gate,  almost  at  the  very  moment  when  death  entered  it  by 
another.  When  Adam  tasted  the  forbidden  fruit,  Death  en- 
tered in  state  and  enthroned  himself  in  the  world,  with  his 
royal  train  of  terrors  and  miseries;  but  Life  also  entered  in 
the  meek  and  quiet  guise  of  the  word  concerning  Christ ;  and 
has  ever  found  some  footing  for  itself  from  that  time  to  the 
present. 

Your  brother  is  dead,  you  say,  and  buried.  "  Look  upon 
me,"  says  Christ,  "and  let  your  tears  be  dried;  for  I  am  the 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  49 

life.  If  your  brother  had  life,  that  life  is  in  me ',  m}-  life  is 
the  pledge  of  his.  Because  I  live,  he  shall  live  also.  By  faith 
perceive  your  brother  clothed  with  the  boundless  wealth  of  the 
life  that  is  in  me.  The  life  of  your  brother  can  only  be 
reached  through  me." 

"  True,  dear  Lord,  thou  art  the  life ;  and  he  whom  we 
mourn,  as  he  believed  on  thee,  must  be  in  the  realms  of  life 
and  bask  in  the  smiles  of  the  Blessed.  But  his  body  anchored 
him  among  us ;  and  we  now  have  him  not.  All  of  him  that 
was  palpable  and  visible,  all  that  the  sun  shone  upon  and  the 
wind  breathed  upon,  our  breathing,  speaking,  hearing  brother, 
our  earthly  companion,  is  a  prey  to  death." 

"I  am  the  resurrection  as  well  as  the  life.  I  am  your  com- 
panion ;  it  is  the  privilege  of  believers  to  be  present  with  me ; 
your  brother  shall  rise  again.  The  incorruptible  body  of  your 
Saviour  is  a  pledge  of  the  redemption  of  the  believer's  body 
.from  corruption.  He  that  believeth  on  me  is  baptized  unto 
the  redemption  of  the  body  as  well  as  of  the  soul.  Faith 
brings  to  me  a  lost  and  corrupt  soul ;  it  brings  me  also  a  dead 
and  corrupt  body,  and  receives  in  exchange  an  imperishable, 
glorious  body." 

All  that  we  have  then  to  do  with  death,  is  to  march  through 
his  dominions  after  the  captain  of  our  salvation,  and  issue, 
from  the  portal  beyond,  in  body,  soul,  and  spirit  like  him  who 
is  at  the  right  hand  of  the  majesty  on  high. 


February  10.—"  Surely  I  know  that  it  shall  be  well  with  them  that 
fear  God." — Ecclesiastes  viii.  12. 

Observe  here  the  character  of  those  that  are  spoken  of: 
"  they  fear  God." 

Observe  their  condition^  present  and  prospective :  "it  shall 
be  well  with  them." 

Notice  the  certainty  of  this  :  "  surely  I  know." 

5 


60  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

God  is  love.  This  word  embraces  all  his  perfections.  But 
let  none  suppose  that  he  is  therefore  bound  down  to  a  single 
line  of  manifestation.  Light  is  one ;  yet,  says  the  prism,  man- 
ifold. The  sternest  acts  of  Providence  unfold,  in  their  own 
particular  way,  the  love  of  God.  Again,  all  that  God  requires 
of  us,  is  love.  But  this  love  will  manifest  itself  diversely,  ac- 
cording to  the  divine  perfection  contemplated.  In  view  of  his 
holiness,  we  stand  in  awe ;  of  his  sovereignty,  we  fear ',  of  his 
faithfulness,  we  believe ;  and  in  view  of  his  kindness,  we  re- 
joice. 

It  shall  he  loell  loitli  them.  A  quiet,  modest  word ;  but  full 
of  significance.  The  fear  of  God  took  Abraham  to  Mount 
Moriah  -,  but  it  was  well  with  him  there.  It  was  not  the  fear 
of  God  that  took  Lot  to  Sodom ;  it  went  not  well  with  him 
there.  The  fear  of  God  took  Daniel  into  the  lion's  den,  and 
the  three  Hebrews  into  the  seven-times  heated  furnace ;  they 
feared  him  who  had  power  to  cast  both  soul  and  body  into, 
hell ',  and  it  was  well  with  them.  The  spirit  of  glory  and  of 
God  resteth  as  a  dove,  upon  them  that  fear  God ;  invisible  to 
the  world ;  telling  of  the  new  Jerusalem  that  cometh  down 
from  God  out  of  heaven !  Who  shall  estimate  the  measure  of 
this  word  "  well  ?"  Ask  Lazarus  to  tell  thee  from  the  bosom 
of  Abraham,  what  it  means ; — ask  Paul  j — ask  the  primeval 
angels ; — ask  God  ! 

I  know  surehj^  says  the  Preacher.  There  is  no  item  of 
knowledge  based  on  more  absolute  certainty  than  this.  If 
God  be  God,  then  whatever  else  be  certain  or  uncertain,  this 
one  thing  is  imperatively  true ;  it  must  be  well  with  him  that 
feareth  God.  This  unquestionable  axiom  laughs  all  mere  phil- 
osophy to  scorn,  and  condemns  all  that  disdain  the  paths  of 
God.  Are  you  willing  to  bid  eternal  farewell  to  this  word 
which  shuts  up  in  itself  as  in  a  mystic  casket  all  the  riches,  all 
the  beauty,  all  the  splendor,  and  all  the  bliss  of  God's  vast 
universe  ?     Oh  !  what  a  bankrupt  is  he  that  lets  go  this  word ! 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  51 

February  11. — **  Fruitful  in  every  good  work." — Colossians  i.  10. 

The  Almighty  Maker  of  all  demands  no  more  of  anything 
he  has  made  than  he  has  made  it  capable  of  yielding,  a..- .ugh 
when  each  tree  yields  its  appropriate  fruits.  The  plants  of 
righteousness  have  pre-eminence  above  all  the  trees  of  the 
field ;  for  on  their  boughs,  they  bear,  wonderful  to  relate,  many 
varieties  of  fruits.  There  is  one  Spirit ;  but  his  fruit  is  love, 
joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meek- 
ness, temperance.  How  beautiful  when  the  trees  planted  in 
the  courts  of  God,  exhibit,  each  of  them,  all  these  varieties  of 
celestial  fruits.  Does  a  man  say,  I  am  fruitful  in  one  good 
work,  I  have  fulfilled  my  legitimate  function  ?  I  reply :  You 
know  not  your  calling,  neither  the  grace  of  Grod';  you  are 
called  to  be  one  of  those  peculiar  trees  that  are  to  be  trans- 
planted to  paradise ;  be  fruitful,  therefore,  in  every  good  work. 
Who  is  he  that  speaketh  against  good  works  ?  Such  an  one 
,  speaketh  against  God.  Good  works  are  the  works  that  God 
approves.  To  disapprove  of  what  God  approves,  is  something 
that  should  be  left  to  Satan  and  his  angels.  It  is  impossible 
to  take  a  step  in  the  path-way  of  life,  but  by  a  good  work.  A 
man  must  do  what  God  would  have  him  do,  or  he  will  make 
very  little  progress  in  that  path  to  heaven.  The  first  thing,  of 
course,  is  to  renounce  all  trust  in  one's  own  righteousness,  and 
look  to  Christ  as  one's  sole  wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctification, 
and  redemption.  We  are  created  anew  in  Christ  Jesus  unto 
good  works. 

Fruitful  in  every  good  worh.  Not  but  that  a  man  may  ])e 
specially  fitted  for  a  particular  service.  We  are  not  bidden  to 
fritter  away  our  powers  in  vain  efforts  to  do  a  multitude  of 
things.  But  opportunities  of  diverse  character  come  to  every 
man.  It  is  of  great  importance  to  be  on  the  look  out  for  these. 
The  devotee  of  gain  is  wonderfully  keen  for  the  recognition  of 
opportunities ;  and  grasps  with  all  his  energies  at  each  suc- 
cessive hope  that  darts  across  his  path.     The  Christian  is  a 


52  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

merchant  of  a  peculiar  kind ;  his  whole  aim  is  to  enrich  others. 
Golden  opportunities  in  his  estimation  are  such  as  enable  him 
to  do  good.  He  cultivates  a  habit  of  looking  upon  every  man 
as  one  to  whom  good  is  to  be  done.  The  day  is  whitest  in  his 
calendar  in  which  he  has  been  enabled  to  communicate  most. 
Let  us  look  around  us  and  see  if  we  cannot  be  fruitful  in  some 
good  works  that  our  hands  have  not  yet  known.  The  glory  of 
a  tree  is  to  be  fruitful. 


jc'ebruary  12. — "  He  that  trusteth  in  his  own  heart  is  a  fool." — Prov- 
erbs xxviii.  26. 

Self-confidence,  self-reliance,  pride  of  character,  sense  -of 
power,  consciousness  of  strength,  self-possession, — ^these  make 
a  man  great  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  and  a  fool  in  the  sight 
of  God.  For  strength  is  in  the  consciousness  of  weakness,  not 
in  the  consciousness  of  strength.  Wisdom  is  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  ignorance ;  and  true  confidence  is  in  the  utter  mistrust 
of  self.  Man  by  himself  is  a  fragment.  He  is  the  sport  of 
circumstances, — the  foot-ball  of  time.  Yea,  though  he  have 
imperial  power  and  subdue  the  world,  if  his  trust  be  in  him- 
self, it  is  in  a  reed  shaken  with  the  wind.  Man  is  complete  only 
in  God,  only  in  Christ.  Let  the  tree  laugh  at  the  soil  and 
glory  in  its  bared  roots;  the  folly  were  not  so  great  as  that  of 
him  who  trusteth  in  his  ov/n  heart. 

Trust  not  in  your  own  heart.  For  he  that  does  so,  trusts  in 
the  heart  of  a  fool.  You  have  been  deceived  by  it  a  thousand 
times.  You  know  it  to  be  incorrigibly  given  to  falsehood.  It 
is  in  the  pay  of  Satan,  and  would  lure  you  in  a  flowery  path  go- 
ing to  destruction.  Self-trust  is  the  abandonment  of  God.  To 
go  forth  in  the  consciousness  of  yom-  own  strength,  wisdom,  or 
virtue,  is  to  go  forth  as  Goliath ;  but  what  is  your  stupendous 
Bword,  what  3'our  brazen  armor,  in  comparison  with  the  stone 
of  the  brook  in  the  hand  of  faith  ?     "  You  have  heard  a  great 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  53 

deal  of  faitli,  and  cannot  understand  it."  Know  that  it  is  just 
the  opposite  of  your  self-trust.  It  is  the  genuine  source  of 
strength  and  victory ;  you  have  but  the  counterfeit. 


February  13. — "  He  shall  redeem  Israel  from  all  his  iniquities." — 
Psalm  cxxx.  8. 

So  says  the  Psalmist.  A  thousand  years  after,  the  angel 
who  appeared  to  Mary  takes  up  the  refrain,  saying,  "  He  shall 
save  his  people  from  their  sins."  Peter  in  due  time  learns  this 
admirable  song,  and  thus  modulates  it  in  the  hearing  of  the 
Jews  : — '•  Unto  you  first,  God,  having  raised  up  his  son  Jesus, 
sent  him  to  bless  you,  in  turning  away  every  one  of  you  from 
his  iniquities."  Paul  suffers  not  the  strain  to  die.  but  gives  it 
the  following  utterance  : — "  Christ  gave  himself  for  us  that  he 
might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and  purify  unto  himself  a 
peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good  works." 

By  his  death  he  reconciles  the  Godhead  to  us.  By  his  Gos- 
pel he  reconciles  us  to  God.  He  redeems  us  from  all  iniqui- 
ties, finally,  by  his  Spirit  and  sanctifying  word.  This  result  is 
accomplished  by  inspiring  enmity  between  our  souls  and  our 
iniquities.  We  discover  these  to  be  so  many  folds  of  an  ana- 
conda about  our  soul.  We  are  made  to  hate  them  with  a  per- 
fect hatred,-! — also  to  know  our  own  impotence, — then  to  know 
our  strength  in  Him, — then  to  burst  these  successive  chains, 
and  walk  emancipated  in  spirit.  In  general,  we  may  under- 
stand that  there  is  no  actual  deliverance  from  any  sin,  until 
the  odiousness  of  that  sin  has  been  seen.  The  odiousness  of 
it  is  often  first  seen  when  we  come  into  actual  conflict  with  it ; 
but  most  seen  when  we  contemplate  the  opposite  perfection  in 
the  lovely  character  of  Christ. 


February  14. — ''If   it  were  not  so,  I  wouUl  have  told  you." — John 
xiv.  2. 

There  is  somethhig  exceedingly  gracious  and  affecting  about 
5  «' 


54  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

this  declaration.  It  is  the  language  of  pure  friendship  and 
open-hearted  confidence.  "  If  things  had  been  darker  than 
they  are,  if  your  difficulties  greater,  if  your  future  less  glori- 
ous, be  sure  that  I  would  have  told  joii.  Did  I  ever  seek  to 
disguise  the  difficulties  that  would  throng  your  path,  if  you 
became  my  followers  ?  Did  I  speak  in  a  whisper  of  the  cross 
that  you  would  have  to  bear  ?  Did  I  keep  you  ignorant  of  an 
opposing  world,  oppressive  governors,  persecuting  monarchs? 
Did  I  not  speak  emphatically  of  scourgings,  stonings,  impris- 
onings  ?" 

"  Again,  did  I  ever  keep  back  anything  from  you  that  was 
really  needful  for  your  encouragement  and  your  guidance  ?  I 
have  told  joii  all  things  that  were  calculated  to  contribute  to 
your  fortitude  and  to  your  joy.  I  know  well  that  the  idea  will 
creep  some  time  into  your  mind,  (for  what  idea  is  so  wild  that 
it  finds  no  access  to  the  mind  of  man,  even  of  the  man  whom 
Grod  hath  taught,)  the  idea  will  present  itself  to  you  that  the 
revelation  made  by  me  is  not  all  that  it  should  be.  Curiosity, 
for  instance,  may  desire  to  know  very  much  about  the  many 
mansions  in  my  Father's  house ;  but  be  assured,  if  that  more 
detailed  information  had  been  truly  desirable  for  you,  I  would 
have  communicated  it.  Infinite  wisdom  and  infinite  love  have 
not  only  prompted  the  words  that  I  have  given  you,  but  my 
silence  also.  I  might  have  expatiated  much  upon  my  Father's 
house  of  glory ;  but  it  would  have  hindered  you  from  paying 
due  attention  to  the  way  that  leadeth  to  that  house.  Enough 
for  you  to  know  that  I  am  there,  with  the  glory  which  I  had 
before  the  world  was ;  that  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand 
sons  of  Grod  walk  there  in  purity  and  majesty  j  and  that  there 
are  vacancies  in  their  ranks  which  it  is  understood  that  you 
are  to  fill.  What  is  of  chief  exigency  is  that  you  should 
know  well  the  spot  on  which  you  are  putting  down  your 
foot,  and  be  perfectly  instructed  in  the  way  of  righteousness." 

Ileader,  are  you  satisfied  with  the  revelation  that  God  has 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 


been  pleased  to  give  you  ?  Dare  not  to  doubt  tliis  word  of 
Christ,  that  if  it  had  been  hcst  for  you  he  would  have  told  you 
more.  Shall  man  hand  God  a  table  of  contents,  and  ask  the 
Almighty  to  make  a  revelation  thereto  accordant  ? 


FEBnuARY  15. — "I  glory  in  my  infirmities." — 2  Corinthians  xii.  9. 

With  gladness  and  with  exultation  Paul  contemplated  the 
fact  that  Grod  had  made  him  what  he  was,  a  very  dependent 
creature,  in  himself  altogether  incomplete,  and  in  unceasing 
need  of  the  presence  and  blessing  of  God. 

Imagine  a  flower  able  to  shine  by  phosphorescent  rays,  dim 
and  dying  at  the  best ;  and  saying  to  the  glorious  sun  in  the 
heavens,  "Depart  from  me,  I  have  no  need  of  thee;  trouble 
not  thyself  to  move  through  my  skies ;  I  am  my  own  sun." 
What  fatuity  were  this.  It  is  the  glory  of  the  flower  that  it 
has  so  magnificent  a  bridegroom,  rising  day  by  day  to  run  his 
course  of  love  through  the  skies.  Let  the  flower  rejoice  and 
be  glad  that  it  has  no  power  of  its  own  over  the  earth,  over 
the  air,  over  the  least  of  its  own  internal  vessels;  and  that 
without  the  sun  it  can  do  nothing.  Let  it  be  tenacious  unto 
death  of  its  dependence.  And  let  Paul,  enlightened  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  exult  in  a  condition  that  keeps  him  in  perpetual 
and  heavenly  alliance  with  the  King  of  kings.  Let  him  glory 
in  his  poverty  that  binds  him  to  the  treasury  of  heaven ;  in 
his  isolation  that  procures  him  a  legion  of  angels  to  camp 
about  him ;  in  his  ignorance  that  demands  the  teachings  of 
the  Omniscient;  and  in  his  moral  helplessness  that  requires 
Christ  to  abide  in  his  heart  by  faith 


FEBRrARY  16. — "Give   i;s  help  from  trouble,  for  vain   is  the  help  of 
man." — Psalm  Ix.  11. 

There  was  a  poor  woman  that  spent  all  her  living  upon  phy- 


56  ^  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

sicians.  She  went  everywhere  soliciting  the  help  of  man,  and 
experimenting  upon  the  capacities  of  earth.  Finally  she  de- 
spaired. The  shades  of  night  were  gathering  around  her; 
she  cried  unto  God,  saying,  perhaps,  "  give  us  help  from  trouble, 
for  vain  is  the  help  of  man ;"  then  speedily  came  the  Prince 
of  Life,  and  the  mere  sweep  of  his  garment  imparted  what 
had  been  so  long  and  vainly  sought  from  man. 

Altogether  the  bitterest  element  of  trouble  is  the  foolish  ex- 
pectation of  man's  help,  of  the  world's  consolation.  Has  man 
then  no  power  to  succor  his  fellow-man  ?  Does  the  Bible  wish 
to  make  us  misanthropists  ?  Is  the  voice  of  human  friendship 
the  voice  of  a  syren  ?  And  shall  we  treat  with  suspicion  and 
contempt  the  sympathizing  ones  who  hasten  to  us  at  the  report 
of  our  trouble  ?  Not  so.  If  God  notices  the  cup  of  cold  wa- 
ter, it  cannot  be  that  we  should  slight  it.  Christ  would  have 
the  sweet  odor  of  the  act  performed  by  Mary,  in  the  house  of 
Simon  the  leper,  diffused  through  all  the  world.  Far  be  it 
from  us  to  repel  the  kindnesses  of  any. 

Yet  consider ; — Christ  was  pleased  with  Mary's  tribute ;  but 
the  sorrows  of  his  soul  were  not  stanched  by  it.  He  knew 
what  was  in  the  heart  of  Judas;  he  knew  what  Peter  was 
ready  to  become ;  he  had  troubles  that  human  solaces  were 
vain  to  remove.  When  Peter  was  in  prison,  there  were  thou- 
sands that  loved  him  and  would  have  made  all  sacrifices  to 
liberate  him ;  but  all  they  could  do  was  to  go  to  God  in  his 
behalf.  Where,  in  all  the  world,  is  the  man  that  has  not  had 
experience  of  troubles  that  the  help  of  man  was  powerless  to 
remove?  No  one  can  remove  them  effectually  and  perma- 
nently, but  that  Divine  being  who  bore  our  sins  in  his  own 
human  body  on  the  tree ;  no  one  but  he  who  is  able  to  remove 
our  unbelief,  our  selfishness,  our  wrong  desires,  our  inordinate 
affections. 

Lord,  give  thou  us  help  from  trouble,  for  vain  is  the  help 
of  man. 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  57 

February  17. — "  Thou  hast  a  few  names  even  in  Sardis,  -which  have 
not  defiled  their  garments ;  and  they  shall  walk  with  me  in  white ;  for 
they  are  worthy." — Revelation  iii.  4. 

"  Even  in  Sardis."  How  full  of  reproach  this  little  word 
"  even."  The  wonder  was  that  any  good  should  live  in  such  a 
sea  of  iniquity  as  that.  Even  in  Sardis  !  It  will  be  well  for 
us  to  act  as  though  our  residence  were  in  Sardis  ]  as  though 
there  were  the  greatest  possible  danger  of  our  soiling  our  robes. 
The  robes  that  are  polluted  are  robes  that  were  given  spotless. 
You  cannot  pollute  that  which  is  intrinsically  vile.  The  gar- 
ments which  so  many  Sardians  had  defiled,  were  such  as  they 
had  in  connection  with  their  Christian  profession.  When  a 
man  receives  the  truth,  and  embraces  Christ,  and  identifies 
himself  with  the  people  of  Grod,  he  is,  in  the  eyes  of  rejoicing 
angels  above  and  saints  below,  clothed  with  a  new  nature.  His 
old  nature  is  laid  oif  as  a  garment ;  and  his  faith  in  Christ  is 
a  pledge  to  us  that  he  will  live  under  the  influences  of  new 
principles,  with  new  aims,  habits,  feelings. 

"  A  few  that  have  not  defiled  their  robes."  They  have  been 
distinguished  by  great  reverence  for  the  Master's  words.  They 
have  diligently  sought  to  know  and  do  his  whole  will.  They 
have  mistrusted  their  own  hearts.  Have  rightly  estimated  the 
power  of  the  enemy.  Have  been  unceasing  in  prayer.  Have 
sought  diligently  to  grow  in  grace.  Sometimes,  they  have  for- 
gotten to  watch,  and  have  committed  some  trespass.  Then 
Satan  sought  to  take  away  their  confidence,  and  rear  the  image 
of  the  sin  formidably  between  them  and  God.  Doubts  and 
fears  beset  them ;  they  began  to  question  if  they  ever  could 
be  proof  against  temptation.  Their  garments  were  almost  de- 
filed. But  no,  the  grace  of  God  came  to  their  rescue.  Others 
were  betrayed  into  wrong-doing,  and  then  were  assured  by 
Christian  friends  that  that  was  not  wrong-doing ;  there  was 
great  danger  that  they  would  take  up  this  lower  view  of  what 
Christ  demanded ;  great  danger  that  their  robes  should  be  de- 


58  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

filed;  but  the  gracious  Spirit  enabled  them  to  cling  to  their 
best  convictions,  their  truer  standard,  and  they  were  safe. 
There  came  once  a  period  of  coldness;  cares  of  the  world, 
pursuit  of  wealth,  alliances  with  irreligious  persons;  these 
choked  the  word ;  this  thing  went  on  too  long ;  their  garments 
threatened  to  become  defiled ;  but  they  happily  awoke  to  a  sense 
of  their  perilous  state,  and  with  great  earnestness,  they  turned 
again  to  the  animating  beams  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness. 

They  who  thus  maintain  their  garments  unspotted  from  the 
world,  shall  walk  with  Christ  in  white.  Their  white  garments 
shall  become  in  whiteness  and  lustre  such  as  no  fuller  on  earth 
could  produce.  They  will  walk  in  the  very  lustre  of  Christ ; 
his  glory  shall  be  upon  them ;  they  shall  be  made  like  unto 
him. 

"  For  they  are  worthy."  They  have  identified  themselves 
with  the  only  true  worth,  even  Christ.  So  long  as  we  wrap 
ourselves  in  our  own  native  worth,  though  it  should  be  some- 
thing resplendent  in  the  eyes  of  all  our  fellows,  we  are  not 
worthy  to  walk  with  Christ  in  white.  Young  and  noble  aspi- 
rant after  an  admirable  and  worth-revealing  life,  know  that  if 
your  utmost  dreams  should  come  true,  and  earth's  most  distin- 
guished chaplet  of  worth  should  become  yours,  yet  would  not 
that  constitute  you  worthy  of  companionship  with  Christ  on 
hish  Observe,  the  aiorified  ones  all  unite  in  the  son 2;  of  tes- 
timony,  "  Thou  alone  art  worthy  to  receive  glory,  and  honor, 
and  power  and  blessing."  They  renounce  the  worth  of  which 
they  once  dreamed,  and  lose  themselves  in  the  contemplation 
of  the  infinite  and  all-absorbing  worth  of  the  Eedeemer-God. 
And  all  his  worth  becomes  theirs.  All  things  become  theirs ; 
for  his  heart  is  theirs. 


DAILY    xMEDITATIONS.  59 

Ffbkuary  18. — ''Bless  the  Lord,  O.my  souL" — Psalm  ciii.  22. 

That  is  to  say,  "  let  thy  vocation  be  that  of  the  seraphim,  0 
my  soul,  and  enter  on  the  life  of  heaven !" 

Why  should  I  praise  him  ?  Can  my  praise  be  of  any  ad- 
vantage to  him  ?  No ;  nor  that  of  all  the  heavenly  hosts.  It 
is  infinite  condescension  in  him  to  hearken  unto  the  praises  of 
his  most  exalted  creatures. 

Let  me  bless  the  Lord,  because  no  function  will  be  more 
rich  in  blessings  to  my  soul  than  this.  The  admiring  con- 
templation of  his  excellence  is  in  reality  the  aj^propriation 
thereof  The  heart  cannot  delight  in  God,  without  becoming 
like  God. 

Let  me  do  it,  because  it  is  the  peculiar  privilege  of  man  on 
this  earth  to  bless  the  Lord.  When  he  would  find  any  to  join 
him  in  this,  he  has  to  ascend  the  skies. 

Let  me  do  it,  because  the  earth  is  fully  furnished  with  the 
materials  of  praise.  The  sands,  the  seas,  the  flowers,  the  in- 
sects; animals,  birds,  fields,  mountains,  rivers,  trees,  clouds, 
sun,  moon,  stars, — all  wait  for  me  to  translate  their  attributes 
and  distinctions  into  praise.     But,  above  all,  the  new  creation. 

Let  me  do  it,  because  of  him,  through  him,  and  to  him,  are 
all  the  things  that  pertain  to  my  existence,  health,  comfort, 
knowledge,  dignity,  safety,  progress,  power  and  usefulness.  A 
thousand  of  his  ministers  in  earth,  sea,  and  sky,  are  concerned 
in  the  production  and  preparation  of  every  mouthful  that  I 
eat.  The  breath  that  I  am  commanded  and  enabled  to  modu- 
late in  praise,  neither  comes  nor  goes  without  a  most  surprising 
exhibition  of  the  condescension,  kindness,  wisdom,  power,  and 
presence  of  him  whom  I  am  to  praise.  Is  it  not  dastardly  to 
be  receiving  benefits,  without  even  mentioning  the  name,  or 
describing  the  goodness  of  the  giver  ? 

Let  candidates  for  heaven  bless  the  Lord.  There  is  no 
place  there  for  such  as  have  not  learned  this  art. 

How  shall  I  praise  him  ?     Not  with  fine  words.     No  poetic 


60  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

•  talent  is  here  necessary.     Any  language  that  expresses  heart- 
felt admiration  will  be  accepted. 

Praise  him  so  far   as  you  know  him;  and  he  will  make 
known  to  you  more  of  his  glory. 


February  19. — "  Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him." — Job 
xiii.  15. 

If  we  want  a  sublime  utterance,  here  is  one.  Let  us  give 
glory  to  that  Blessed  Spirit  of  grace,  who  thus  sometimes 
teaches  the  lips  of  man  wondrous  things. 

Though  he  slay  me, — not  simply,  though  he  take  away  my 
life.  Job  would  have  had  no  reluctance  to  part  with  his  life. 
It  would  have  been  an  inexpressible  relief  to  him  to  escape 
from  the  load  of  misery  laid  upon  him.  The  expression, 
"  Though  he  slay  me,"  is  the  strongest  possible,  and  startles  us 
with  an  exhibition  of  peculiar  horrors.  Though  God  should 
come  against  me,  and  destroy  me  with  marks  of  signal  wrath ; 
though  death  should  visit  nic  as  the  king  of  terrors,  and  though 
my  departure  from  this  world  should  be  in  harmony  with  and 
as  a  mighty  climax  to  my  present  agony ',  yet  will  I  trust  in 
him.  I  believe  his  word,  rather  than  the  aspect  of  his  provi- 
dences. The  fire  that  fell  from  heaven  and  destroyed  my 
flocks,  is  not  able  to  destroy  the  promise  on  which  I  rest.  A 
great  wind  from  the  wilderness  smote  the  house  where  all  my 
loved  ones  dwelt,  and  at  one  swoop  removed  all  in  which  I 
delighted  on  earth ;  yet  the  word  of  God  endureth  forever.  I 
have  a  ground  of  confidence  that  cannot  be  shaken  by  ele- 
mental wrath.  Though  the  floods  should  lift  themselves 
against  me,  and  every  billow  proclaim  that  God  is  my  enemy; 
though  streams  of  liquid  fire  should  advance,  declaring  that 
God's  ancient  love  is  extinguished ;  though  the  earth  beneath 
should  shake,  and  the  heaven  above  be  black;  though  all 
things  should  seem  commissioned  to  preach  unto  me  the  un- 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  61 

quenchable  wrath  of  God ;  yet  will  I  trust  in  his  unalterable 
word. 

The  perfection  of  faith  is  to  cling  to  the  word  of  God,  when 
all  his  works,  and  all  his  ways,  seem  to  proclaim  the  very  oppo- 
site of  that  word.  Isaac  no  doubt  had  confidence  in  his 
fatlier ;  and  when  he  saw  him  with  the  knife  in  his  uplifted 
hand,  ready  to  slay  him,  still  he  trusted  in  him ;  nor  would  he 
have  fled  to  any  other  earthly  refuge.  "  He  that  believeth  in 
me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live."  It  was  a  terrible 
trial  of  the  faith  of  Lazarus  and  his  sisters,  when  they  heark- 
ened, hearkened,  hearkened  for  footsteps  of  Jesus,  and  after  all, 
those  of  death  came  first ;  but  we  may  hope  that  the  dying  one 
passed  away  with  something  like  the  words  of  Job  upon  his 
lips. 

February  20. — "  Be  patient,  therefore,  brethren,  unto  the  coming  of  the 
Lord." — James  v.  7. 

Because,  first,  there  is  no  doubt  about  that  coming.  His 
first  coming  was  the  most  wonderful,  the  most  staggering  to 
faith.  That  the  Son  of  God  should  have  been  found  in  fashion 
as  a  man,  without  form  or  comeliness,  with  but  rare  coruscations 
of  his  glory,  enduring  the  contradiction  of  sinners,  and  dying 
on  the  cross ;  this  is  a  marvel  that  swallows  up  all  marvels,  and 
frees  from  all  embarrassment  the  question  of  his  second  ad- 
vent. 

Because  he  will  come  in  glory  such  as  no  heart  of  man  ever 
conceived,  shedding  an  infinite  lustre  upon  the  least  jot  and 
tittle  of  his  slighted  Gospel,  and  embracing  in  his  own  match- 
less radiance  and  felicity,  those  who  now  accept  the  legacy  of 
his  promises,  and  walk  in  the  path  of  his  humiliation. 

Because  we  shall  be  for  ever  with  the  Lord.     The  day  of  his 

coronation  and  of  ours  is  a  day  on  which  the  sun   shall  never 

go  down. 

Because  he  cometh ;  he  cometh !    The  bell  of  his  providence 
6 


62  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

is  sounding  ever  and  anon,  telling  that  another  prophecy  is 
fullfilled,  another  hour  of  this  our  day  of  expectation  elapsed, 
another  footfall  of  his  glorious  approach  accomplished. 

Be  patient,  therefore.  Yet  think  not  that  by  this  we  aro 
bidden  to  wait  supinely,  and  with  our  attention  given  to  other 
things.  But  rather  as  they  that  watch  for  the  morning,  let  us 
hasten  unto  the  day  of  the  Lord. 


February  21. — "  The  Lord  is  very  pitifuL" — James  v.  11. 

Few  believe  this.  Men  know  what  pitifulness  is.  They 
know  how  a  very  pitiful  parent  will  act  towards  a  suffering 
child  J  how  he  will  show  himself  tenderly  solicitous  to  staunch 
its  wounds  and  alleviate  its  sorrows.  They  do  not  view  God  as 
characterized  by  this  sjiupathizing  tenderness  and  pitifulness. 
They  regard  him  as  a  physician,  who,  by  long  familiarity  with 
suffering,  is  able  to  look  upon  it  without  emotion,  and  coldly  to 
calculate  what  remedies  are  best. 

If  we  choose  to  see  God  thus,  we  shall  perhaps  find  him 
thus ;  for  according  to  our  faith  is  he  manifested.  Neverthe- 
less, he  is  what  the  prophets  and  apostles  declare, — very  pitifal. 
There  is  in  him  no  indifference  to  human  suffering.  He  does 
not  willingly  afflict,  nor  grieve  the  children  of  men;  nay,  "  in 
all  their  affliction  he  was  afflicted.'^  The  tears  shed  by  Christ 
are  a  part  of  the  manifestation  of  God  to  man. 

Tell  me,  pray,  tcJio  taught  the  mother  her  pitifulness?  who 
introduced  that  wondrous  feeling  of  kindness  into  her  heart  ? 
Who  constituted  her  in  so  admirable  a  way,  that,  though  in  all 
other  relations  she  might  be  selfishness  itself,  yet  in  this  she  is 
compelled,  as  by  the  instinct  of  her  own  -good,  to  hang  in  pa- 
tience, in  pity,  and  in  love,  over  the  cradle  of  her  little  one  ? 
Who  hath  made  her  maternal  ear  of  such  sensitiveness,  that 
the  faintest  cry  of  her  babe  shall  smite  piercingly  upon  it  ? 
Behold  her !  she  is  wholly  dedicated, — her  ear,  eye,  tongue, 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  63 

her  hands,  her  feet,  her  body  and  soul,  her  wealth,  her  all, — 
to  a  conflict  with  the  sorrow  of  her  infant,  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  its  utmost  welfare.  Through  this  glass,  then,  gaze 
upon  the  perfections  of  thy  God.  The  pitifulness  in  the 
mother's  heart  bespeaks  a  greater  pitifulness  in  the  heart  of 
him  who  made  her  thus.  He  that  made  her  lips  so  that  gen- 
tle and  heart-affecting  accents  might  fall  from  them,  is  one 
that  knoweth  exquisitely  how  to  caress,  to  solace,  and  to  bless. 
Where  however,  is  the  infant  whose  sorrows  are  all  overtaken 
by  the  solicitude  of  the  parent  ?  But  the  believer  has  no  ex- 
perience of  suffering,  great  or  slight,  common  or  peculiar,  for 
which  there  is  not  some  special  and  some  gentle  word  of  Grod, 
with  a  medicinal  virtue  only  limited  by  his  want  of  faith. 


February  22. — "  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us  from 
all  sin." — John  i.  7. 

The  sufferings  and  death  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  our  will- 
ing substitute,  were  such  a  satisfaction  for  sin,  such  a  repara- 
tion to  the  law  of  God,  that  it  has  become  every  way  consistent 
with  divine  justice,  wisdom,  and  truth,  to  accord  mercy  to  sin- 
ners, and  bless  them  without  any  other  restriction  than  that 
which  their  own  unwillingness  and  unbelief  interpose.  There 
is  a  fountain  opened  up  for  sin  and  for  uncleanness;  and 
whosoever  will,  may  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely.  "  The 
well  is  deep,  and  thou  hast  nothing  to  draw  with,'^  said  the 
Samaritan  woman  to  Christ.  One  might  be  embarrassed  at  a 
well  or  fountain,  to  know  how  to  avail  himself  of  the  waters; 
but  if  he  saw  another  draw  water  and  drink,  he  could  profit  by 
his  example.  On  the  cross,  we  see  Christ  dying,  the  just  for 
the  unjust;  and  perhaps  may  wonder  how  the  unjust  are  to 
profit  thereby,  until  we  see  the  thief  on  the  cross  put  out  his 
hand  and  drink  of  that  fountain,  and  obtain  life  for  evermore. 


64  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

Then  our  difficulty  is  removed ;  we  see  tliat  we  have  just  to 
believe,  and  be  cleansed  from  all  our  iniquities. 

We  may  plead  the  merits  of  this  blood  as  an  indemnification 
for  all  our  sins ;  so  that  we  may  ask  and  receive  from  the  same 
all-willing  hand  that  blesses  the  angels.  And  this  blood  has 
not  only  the  power  to  conciliate  God ;  it  has  power  over  hearts. 
Not  only  in  the  way  of  inspiring  us  with  faith  in  God's  forgiv- 
ing grace,  but  also  with  hatred  of  the  sins  that  caused  the 
death  of  Christ.  And  we  never  truly  receive  pardon  for  sin 
without  receiving  power  over  sin.  He  that  has  a  true  hope  in 
Christ,  purifieth  himself  even  as  Christ  is  pure.  Faith  in  him 
is  vital  union  to  him ;  and  as  the  branch  cannot  but  partake 
of  the  qualities  of  the  vine,  so  we  must  partake  of  his  quali- 
ties, or  confess  ourselves  unbelievers.  The  increase  of  faith  is 
the  increase  of  all  the  fruits  of  rio-hteousness. 


February  23. — "  So  shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord." — 1  Thessalonians 
iv.  17. 

One  of  the  last  desires  to  which  Christ  gave  utterance  be- 
fore leaving  this  world,  was  expressed  in  these  words :  "  Father, 
I  will  that  they  whom  thou  hast  given  me,  be  with  me  where 
I  am."  And  these  words  "  I  am,"  have  a  meaning  that  is 
very  vast,  referring  perhaps  to  his  place  in  the  affections  of 
the  Father,  to  his  moral  purity,  and  specially  to  the  manifesta- 
tion of  his  divine  glory.  "  I  will  come  again  and  receive  you 
unto  myself,  that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also."  When 
Peter  saw  his  Lord  transfigured,  he  wished  the  blissful  hour  to 
endure  forever.  But  the  time  had  not  yet  come  for  him  to  be 
forever  with  his  glorified  Redeemer.  It  was  needful  that  he 
himself  should  fight  the  good  fight  of  fiiith,  and  come  off  con- 
queror— be  made  like  unto  Christ  spiritually,  and  at  last  in 
eternal  glory. 

"  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always,"  says  Christ,  "  even  to  the  end 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  Q5 

of  tlie  world."  Till  then,  he  is  with  us  the  object  of  faith; 
afterwards  the  blessed  object  of  sight.  "  Ye  believe  in  God 
the  Father,  whom  ye  see  not;  believe  also  in  me,  spiritually 
present  with  you."  They  that  are  most  affected  by  the  glori- 
ous anticipation  of  perpetual  residence  with  Christ  in  glor}^, 
are  most  assiduous  in  the  endeavor  to  discern  his  presence 
here,  and  walk  with  him  on  the  earth.  He  has  promised  to 
manifest  himself  to  us  in  this  our  pilgrimage ;  and  in  vain  we 
look  for  that  future  beatification  with  him,  if  we  have  not 
these  promised  manifestations.  To  be  ever  with  the  Lord,  is 
to  be  never  with  our  sins,  never  with  the  tempter,  never  with 
sorrow ;  ever  with  love,  ever  with  wisdom,  ever  with  power, 
ever  with  glory,  and  ever  with  rapture ;  ever  with  the  Lord ; 
ever  with  all  that  love  the  Lord. 


February  24. — '*  The  eflfectual  fervent  praj'er  of  a  righteous  man 
availeth  much." — James  v.  16. 

We  are  not  to  take  the  word  righteous  here  in  an  impossible 
sense.  "In  many  things  we  offend  all,"  says  James;  and  in 
the  very  verse  we  quote  from,  he  says,  "  Confess  your  fault* 
one  to  another."  Otherwise  understood,  the  promise  would 
check  prayer,  instead  of  exciting  it.  The  righteous  man  is 
the  true  Christian ;  one  who  hungers  and  thirsts  after  right- 
eousness, and  in  whose  life  appears  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit. 
But  the  expression  is  doubtless  intended  to  discourage  the 
man  who,  while  he  gives  himself  to  prayer,  regards  iniquity  in 
his  heart. 

The  Greek  consists  of  five  words.  One  of  these  we  trans- 
late "  of  a  righteous  man."  Another,  "  the  effectual  fervent." 
The  word  so  rendered,  means  literally  "  inwrought,"  and  seems 
to  refer  to  the  energetic  operation  of  the  Spirit  upon  the  heart. 
Our  word  "  fervent"  is  a  very  expressive  word,  and  does  not 


QQ  DAILY    MEDITATIOXS. 

much  lag  behind  the  original.  "  Fervent  prayer  of  the  right- 
eous can  much." 

"  We  ask,  and  receive  not."  It  is  not  surprising.  The 
promise  is  not  to  prayer,  but  to  true  prayer,  fervent  prayer, 
prayer  with  the  whole  heart  in  it ;  with  concentration  of  de- 
sire, singleness  of  aim,  warmth  of  affection,  strength  of  pur- 
pose, absolute  grasp  of  the  promise,  and  invincible  perseve- 
rance. Consider  Abraham,  Jacob,  Elijah.  Your  prayers  are 
not  fervent.  You  pray,  and  the  response  from  a  throne  of 
grace  is,  "  The  fervent  prayer  of  the  righteous  availeth  much." 
The  records  of  that  throne  will  furnish  a  satisfactory  account 
of  the  fortunes  of  every  prayer. 

"  Can  much."  The  Bible  generally  disparages  human  abil- 
ity. It  pours  contempt  upon  the  might  of  princes  It  some- 
times laughs  to  scorn  the  great  armies  and  proud  navies  of  the 
nations.  Yet  it  points  out  a  way  by  which  man  may  clothe 
himself  with  strength ;  with  "much"  strength  How  much  ? 
This  modest  word  stretches  into  infinity,  and  discloses  omnipo- 
tence within  it.  God  giveth  power  to  his  witnesses,  his  fervent 
petitioners,  to  shut  heaven,  to  smite  the  earth,  to  turn  waters  to 
blood. — (Rev.  X.  6.)  Through  Christ  strengthening  me,  I  can 
do  all  things. 


February  25. — "Happy  is  the  man  whom  God  correcteth." — Job  v. 

ir. 

Happy,  because  the  correction  is  designed  to  bring  him  into 
paths  of  pleasantness  and  peace. 

Because  there  is  no  unnecessary  severity  in  it. 

Because  the  disciplinary  stroke  is  in  the  place  of  ten  thou- 
sand strokes  of  divine  vengeance  for  our  sins. 

Because  the  chastisement  is  not  so  much  against  us,  as 
against  our  most  cruel  enemies — our  sins. 

Because  we  have  abundant  words  of  consolation. 


DAILY    MEDITATIOXS.  67 

Because  tlie  sacrifice  of  a  broken  heart,  and  of  a  contrite 
spirit,  God  despisetli  not. 

Because  there  is  at  such  seasons  an  influx  of  most  precious 
knowledge. 

Because  whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth. 

Because  all  the  good  have  had  experience  of  this 

Because  Christ  has  said,  "  The  cup  which  my  Father  hath 
given  me,  shall  I  not  drink  it  ?" 

Because  our  lisht  affliction  is  but  for  a  moment. 


February  26. — "Kejoice  evermore." — 1  Thessalonians  v.  16. 

We  have  here  a  command.  He  that  spake  from  Sinai,  say- 
ing, "  Thou  shalt  not  covet,"  speaketh  now  from  the  cross, 
saying,  "  Rejoice.'^  He  that  finds  Christ,  finds  this  command. 
It  is  not  a  matter  of  choice  with  him  whether  he  will  be  a  re- 
joicing Christian,  or  a  downcast  Christian.  He  has  no  more 
right  to  neglect  the  fulfillment  of  this  duty,  than  to  forget  his 
duty  to  his  neighbor.  In  fact,  this  command  is  so  inextricably 
interwoven  with  other  obligations,  that  he  who  does  not  obey 
it,  exposes  at  once  his  deficiency  in  the  matter  of  faith  towards 
Christ,  gratitude  towards  Grod,  love  towards  his  fellow-men,  and 
hope  of  future  bliss. 

But  can  tears  be  dried,  the  wounds  of  the  heart  healed,  the 
face  irradiated  with  smiles,  by  a  simple  command  ?  Were  it 
not  more  reasonable  to  bid  the  leopard  change  his  spots,  the 
Ethiopian  his  complexion  ?  God  has  not  been  pleased  to  dis- 
cover to  us  a  tree  whose  leaves  will  blanch  the  skin ;  but  he 
has  been  pleased  to  open  up  a  fountain  for  the  removal  of 
human  woes.  To  command  a  person  to  rejoice,  without  at  the 
same  time  presenting  a  sufficient  consolation  for  his  sorrows,  is 
but  to  mock  his  grief.  But  he  that  bids  us  rejoice,  shows  us 
what  to  do  with  our  griefs.  If  we  will  let  him,  he  will  take 
up  each  several  grief,  and  cast  it  into  the  crucible  of  his  word. 


68  DAILY    MEDITATIOXS. 

The  command  to  rejoice,  is  a  command — to  contemplate  God 
and  his  affections;  especially  as  manifested  in  Christ;  in  his 
relations  to  us  individually — to  feed  upon  the  promises — to 
study  Grod's  will ;  and,  paradoxical  though  it  may  seem,  to  be 
not  much  occupied  with  the  matter  of  our  personal  happiness, 
but  rather  with  that  of  others.  "  It  is  more  blessed  to  give, 
than  to  receive."     (Read  Isaiah  Iviii.) 

Rejoice  evermore,  because  Christ  is  the  same  yesterday,  to- 
day, and  for  ever.  The  word  of  God  abideth  for  ever.  All 
things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  Grod. 


February  27. — "  ^Ye  are  the  clay,  and  thou  our  potter." — Isaiah  Ixiv.  8. 

Happy  are  they  who  can  use  this  language ; — who  have  re- 
nounced the  mad  enterprise  of  fashioning  themselves,  and, 
ceasing  to  play  presumptuously  the  part  of  potter,  have  come 
to  the  original  author  of  their  being,  that  he  may  create  them 
anew  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness.  Even  Christians  are 
sometimes  long  in  understanding  what  part  they  are  to  play  in 
the  divine  laboratory.  The  idea  of  the  divine  agency  in  the 
transformation  of  their  souls,  is  shadowy ;  that  of  their  own 
obligation,  painfully  distinct.  Let  them  learn  to  use  the  lan- 
guage of  Israel  of  old.  "  Thou  art  the  potter,  and  we  are  the 
clay."  There  is  no  more  sublime  function  of  the  Godhead, 
none  that  more  inapproachably  exalts  him  above  all  created 
efficiency,  than  the  metamorphosis  of  unholy  souls.  It  were  a 
less  preposterous  thing  for  us  to  undertake  to  create  a  globe 
like  this,  and  find  a  planetary  path  for  it,  than  to  dream  of 
substituting  the  similitude  of  angels  for  that  of  devils,  in  our 
characters.  It  is  not  merely  the  love  of  God,  but  also  his 
power,  that  challenges  the  praises  of  the  universe  for  the  ac- 
complished work  of  redemption  (Rev.  v.  13.) 

"  But,  the  clay  has  no  volition  of  its  own."  True.  But  it  is  a 
fact,  whether  it  be  a  doctrine  or  not,  and  a  fiiet  that  we  ought 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  b9 

not  to  be  so  long  in  learning  as  we  mostly  are,  tliat  our  own 
volitions  utterly  fail  of  themselves  to  effect  the  purification  of 
our  natures.  It  is  God  that  worketh  to  will  and  to  do,  of  his 
good  pleasure. 

"  Thou  art  our  potter.'^  What  words  of  tender  confidence 
are  these.  What  a  representation  of  God.  Our  potter, — mine, 
yours.  He  has  taken  up  this  as  his  vocation, — namely,  the 
redemption  and  glorification  of  your  nature,  and  of  mine.  Be- 
tween your  soul  and  God  there  is  a  wonderful  relation  estab- 
lished. All  nature  looks  on  in  admiration,  to  see  the  Creator 
at  work  upon  the  clay  of  your  soul.  The  sculptor  is  not  more 
enchained  to  the  marble  he  is  employed  in  chiseling,  nor  the 
gardener  to  the  spot  which  he  is  converting  into  a  garden. 


February  28. — "  There  is  forgiveness  with  thee,  that  thou  mayest  be 
feared." — Psalm  cxxx.  4. 

This  is  the  gospel.  Christ  is  with  God ;  therefore,  there  is 
forgiveness  with  G-od.  "  It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go 
away,"  that  I  go  to  heaven.  The  only  question  is,  Is  Christ 
there  ?     Then  we  shall  assuredly  find  forgiveness  there. 

A  proper  understanding  of  this  word  "  forgiveness"  would 
fill  the  soul  with  a  bliss,  the  like  of  which  was  never  yet  ex- 
perienced upon  this  earth.  It  designates  two  immensities, — 
that  of  our  sins,  and  that  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ.  To 
fathom  it  we  must  descend  to  the  lowest  depth  of  endless  mis- 
ery ;  to  know  its  height  we  must  ascend  to  the  throne  which 
the  seraphim  encompass. 

This  forgiveness,  this  smile  of  God,  binds  the  soul  to  God 
with  a  beautiful  fear.  Fear  to  lose  one  glance  of  love.  Fear 
to  lose  one  word  of  kindness.  Fear  to  be  carried  away  from 
the  heaven  of  his  presence,  by  an  insidious  current  of  worldli- 
ness.  Fear  of  slumber.  Fear  of  error.  Fear  of  not  enough 
pleasing  him. 


70  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

Our  duty,  then,  is  to  drink  deep  of  God's  forgiving  love. 
To  be  filled  with  it,  is  to  be  filled  with  purity,  fervency,  and 
faith.  Our  sins  have  to  hide  their  diminished  heads,  and  slink- 
away  through  crevices,  when  forgiveness, — when  Christ  enters 
the  soul. 


February  29. — "  Behold,  these  three  years  I  come  seeking  fruit  on  this 
fig-tree,  and  find  none." — Luke  xiii.  7. 

And  yet  you  profess  to  be  a  fruit-bearer.  The  position  you 
occupy  implies  that  you  have  separated  yourself  from  the  fruit- 
less trees  of  the  world.  You  are  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord. 
You  are  called  by  his  name.  In  assuming  the  designation  of 
Christian,  you  have  invited  the  Lord  to  come  and  seek  fruit  on 
your  branches. 

All  things  have  been  duly  organized,  in  order  that  you  may 
bring  forth  fruit.  What  could  have  been  done  more  to  my 
vineyard,  that  I  have  not  done  in  it  ?  Has  there  been  any  lack 
of  instruction  as  to  the  nature  of  the  fruit  required  ?  There 
has  been  no  lack.  It  has  been  shown  you  by  precept,  by  ex- 
ample, poetically,  historically,  in  parables,  and  in  unadorned 
speech.  Have  inadequate  motives  been  presented  ?  The  Son 
of  God  with  arms  outstretched  upon  the  cross,  pleading  with 
God  for  you,  and  with  you  for  God — what  an  infinitude  of 
motives  are  comprehended  in  this  spectacle  !  Fruitlessness  is 
not  merely  wrong  to  others;  it  is  self-injury,  penury  of  the 
soul ;  and  fruitfulness  is  the  only  true  wealth  we  are  capable 
of  knowing.  The  absence  of  fruit  is  the  presence  o£  pride, 
vanity,  selfishness,  and  all  forms  of  unloveliness.  Is  there  no 
adequacy  of  motive  here  ?  The  whole  earth  is  fruitful,  in  or- 
der that  you  may  be  fruitful.  Far,  far  away  there  is  a  planta- 
tion, whose  products  are  matured  through  many  a  day  of 
patient  shining  of  the  sun,  that  they  ma}^,  after  the  ministry 
of  innumerable  hands,  by  numerous  channels,  reach  you,  and 
furnish  you  with  clothing.     Other  fields,  beneath  a  more  tropi- 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  71 

cal  sky,  some  in  one  continent,  some  in  another,  yield  the  in- 
gredients of  your  morning  beverage.  In  the  unfrequented 
depths  of  vast  forests,  the  powers  of  nature  watch  day  and 
night  over  the  plant  that  is  commissioned  to  furnish  an  anti- 
dote for  your  fever.  The  whole  world  is  put  under  daily  con- 
tribution for  you,  and  hardly  is  the  least  of  your  thousand 
wants  unattended  to,  that  every  opportunity  and  every  induce- 
ment may  be  furnished  you  for  the  producing  of  fruit.  Why 
is  that  flower  painted  so  exquisitely,  and  fashioned  to  be  the 
momentary  utterance  of  enduring  love,  and  then  thrown  in 
your  path  by  the  Maker  of  it,  but  that  you  may  render  fruit  ? 
"  Knowest  thou  not  that  the  goodness  of  Grod  leadeth  thee  to 
repentance,"  and  to  all  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  that  follow  on 
repentance  ? 

The  Lord  of  glory  himself  has  come  to  you,  and  come 
again,  and  again ;  by  his  servants,  his  Spirit,  his  providence ; 
as  a  still  small  voice  in  your  heart,  and  perhaps  as  a  whirlwind 
among  your  possessions.  Where  found  he  you  ?  In  sloth,  in 
revelry,  in  worldliness,  in  pride,  in  passion, — far,  very  far  from 
fruitfnlness.  How  wonderful  that  your  probation  was  not  then 
and  there  cut  short.  What  reason  is  there  to  hope  that  a  pro- 
longed probation  will  witness  any  better  results  ? 


March  1. — ''  My  times  are  in  thy  hand." — Psalm  xxxi.  15. 

The  time  of  my  prosperity.  In  vain  would  I  say  unto  my 
soul,  "  Soul,  take  thine  ease,  thou  hast  much  goods  laid  up  for 
many  years."  In  vain  I  grasp  the  evidences  of  my  wealth ; 
look  abroad  upon  my  goodly  mansions  and  large  estates ;  reckon 
upon  my  wealth,  and  exult  in  the  victory  obtained  over  earthly 
vicissitudes.  The  victory  is  a  mere  cheat,  a  phantasm  of 
my  brain.  The  time  of  my  prosperity  is  in  the  hand  of  Grod, 
He  opens  his  hand,  and  all  my  possessions  vanish  into  air. 

The  time  of  my  health.  It  is  God  that  determines  its  con- 
tinuance, even  to  the«irery  hour. 


72  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

The  time  of  ray  mental  capacity.  I  boast  of  the  powers  of 
my  mind ;  but  they  abide  with  me  only  while  God  commands 
them  so  to  do. 

The  time  of  my  adversity.  Of  sickness.  Of  manifold  sore 
trials.  Of  absence  of  loved  ones.  Of  humiliation.  Of  con- 
flict with  sin. 

The  term  of  my  mortal  existence.  Wherefore,  let  my  eyes 
be  unto  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  as  the  eyes  of  a  servant  are 
unto  the  hand  of  his  master. 


March  2. — "Thou  Lord,  hast  not  forsaken  them  that  seek  thee." — 
Psalm  ix.  10. 

The  promise  of  the  Lord  never  to  forsake  the  soul  that  trusts 
in  him,  looks  familiarly  and  kindly  forth  upon  us,  from  many 
a  page  of  Scripture,  old  and  new.  But  we  have  here  an  his- 
torical statement  to  the  effect  that  he  has  never  forsaken  them 
that  seek  him.  This  is  a  bold  averment.  History  is  a  very 
large  affair.  Ten  thousand  volumes  were  but  a  small  part  of 
its  library.  It  is  startled  by  the  challenge  contained  in  our 
text;  and  takes  down  volume  after  volume,  saying,  " I  will 
easily,  with  my  voluminous  records,  levy  an  army  of  many 
thousand  facts  to  confound  this  statement.''  Unbelief  nods 
assent,  saying,  "  The  statement  needs  modification :  We  have 
often  been  forsaken  of  the  Lord." 

The  promise  is  not  that  we  shall  always  have  a  sensible  man- 
ifestation of  the  Lord. — That  we  shall  always  have  a  soul-glad- 
dening consciousness  of  his  presence. — That  we  shall  always  be 
able  to  understand  his  dealings  with  us. — That  we  shall  be  kept 
from  disappointments,  and  from  anguish  of  spirit. 

The  promise  is  not  that  we  shall  never  be  cast  into  a  den  of 
lions ; — never  into  a  fiery  furnace, — never  be  a  fugitive  by  the 
brooks  Cherith,  or  under  the  juniper  tree — never  be  brought 
before  Nero.     Look  for  the  token  that  tl^  Lord  hath  not  for- 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  73 

saken  you,  in  the  riglit  place.  Look  for  it  in  the  den  of  lions, 
and  you  will  find  it  in  the  form  of  an  angel.  Look  for  it  in 
the' burning  fiery  furnace,  and  find  it  in  the  form  of  the  Son 
of  God.  Look  at  Elijah  under  the  juniper  tree.  He  seems 
to  have  been  surprised  into  a  loss  of  faith,  when  he  heard  that 
the  queen  had  sworn  to  take  his  life;  to  have  imagined  that 
the  Lord  had  forsaken  him;  to  have  fled  in  dishonorable 
alarm;  and  to  have  cast  himself,  way-worn  and  anguish - 
stricken,  under  the  juniper  tree,  with  a  feeling  that  it  was 
about  as  well  to  die,  seeing  that  no  degree  of  intimacy  with  the 
Lord  would  secure  a  man  from  being  forsaken  of  him.  But  it 
was  not  the  Lord  that  had  forsaken  him ;  it  was  he  that  had 
forsaken  himself;  and  this  he  now  discovered.  Afterwards 
the  still  small  voice  came,  saying,  "  The  Lord  is  in  me,  but 
thou  canst  not  hear  me  nor  discern  him,  if  thou  hearken  to  the 
voice  of  an  angry  queen ;  it  is  the  privilege  of  faith  to  hear 
me  even  amid  the  thunders  of  God's  most  agitated  providence." 


March  3. — "  The  meek  will  he  guide."' — Psalm  xxv.  9 

Be  content  to  lose  the  idea  of  thine  own  importance ;  cease 
to  be  wrapped  up  in  the  contemplation  of  thine  own  claims  and 
rights.  Be  not  counting  on  honors  to  be  rendered  thee,  hour 
by  hour,  from  this  man  and  from  that.  Give  up  the  vain  idea 
that  every  hour  owes  thee  an  ample  tribute  of  manifold  bene- 
fits. Shrink  into  non-importance,  and  take  the  position  of  a 
simple  servitor,  whose  business  it  is  to  do,  to  suff"er,  and  to  give 
thanks. 

When  you  have  become  thus  inconsiderable  in  your  own  re- 
gard, and  h|ive  relinquished  the  honor  which  cometh  from  man, 
and  are  cordially  willing  that  the  gifts  that  adorn  this  present 
life  should  be  withheld  from  you,  and  abundantly  bestowed  at 
your  right  hand  and  at  your  left;  then  will  you  become  con- 
scious that  another  hand  is  locked  in  yours,  a  friendly  hand, 
7 


74  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

a  gracious  hand,  a  tender,  considerate,  careful  hand ;  a  royal, 
a  heavenly,  nay,  without  disguise,  a  divine  hand.  In  surrend- 
ering all  self-importance  you  have  become  unspeakably  import- 
ant to  the  most  exalted  Being  in  the  universe.  You  have 
entered  the  very  path  trodden  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In 
that  path  you  walk  with  God. 

The  secret  of  habitual  meekness  is  the  love  of  God  habitu- 
ally shed  abroad  in  the  heart.  All  pride,  all  avidity  of  worldly 
good,  all  insubmission,  imply  a  grossly  inadequate  idea  of  the 
value  of  Christ's  love.  Thou  canst  disdain  the  riches  that 
take  wings,  in  the  consciousness  of  unseen  wealth — untold, 
imperishable. 

Mabch  4. — "  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  ho  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of 
God." — John  iii.  3. 

"  Thou  hast  considered,  Nicodemus,  that  except  God  were 
with  him,  no  man  could  work  such  miracles  as  I  have  wrought. 
Thou  hast  considered,  also,  that  one  in  whom  such  celestial 
power  resides,  must  have  a  great  deal  of  knowledge  respecting 
the  heavens,  their  marvels,  their  glories,  their  inhabitants. 
Thou  wouldst  fain  hear  me  speak  of  these  things,  and  have  me 
enchant  thy  mind  with  a  description  of  the  amazing  things 
that  are  found  in  the  paradise  of  God.  I  am  indeed  a  teacher 
come  from  God,  nor  is  there  besides  me  any  one  who,  having 
dwelt  in  the  heavens,  has  descended  to  the  earth.  But  art 
thou  truly  in  a  condition  to  hear  me  tell  of  the  characteristics 
of  heaven  ?  While  I  speak  to  thee  of  the  purity  of  the  an- 
gels wilt  thou  not  be  longing  to  hear  of  their  stature  ?  When 
I  tell  thee  of  their  love,  wilt  thou  not  desire  to  hear  of  their 
ivory  palaces  ?  When  I  speak  of  the  songs  of  the  redeemed, 
will  not  thy  thoughts  be  of  golden  rivers  and  gem-laden  trees? 
When  I  tell  thee  of  the  absence  of  sin  and  of  temptation,  wilt 
thou  not  prefer  to  have  the  strain  relieved  by  the  description 
of  a  heavenly   banquet  ?     There    is  reason  to  believe  that  a 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  7^ 

description  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  or,  if  sucli  be  in  thy 
thought,  a  description  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom,  would  con- 
vey no  definite  ideas  to  thy  mind,  and  greatly  fail  to  interest 
thee.  Except  a  man  he  horn  again^  he  cannot  see  the  king- 
dom of  God.  He  cannot  appreciate  the  nature  of  it,  or  be 
wrought  upon  by  the  descriptions  of  it.  Before  the  eyes  of 
the  blind,  the  picture  were  in  vain  held  up.  Believe  the 
earthly  things  I  tell  you;  the  things  already  revealed;  the 
things  which  relate  to  your  present  duty ;  and  then  you  will  be 
enabled  to  see  in  their  true  glory  and  beauty,  the  heavenly 
things.  You  must  be  born  again  ;  get  a  new  mind,  new  views, 
new  affections,  new  tastes,  new  perceptions;  and  then  you  will 
speedily  discover  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  This  kingdom  can- 
not be  seen  from  without.  Men  might  lie  all  day  beneath  its 
crystal  walls  and  pearly  gates,  without  the  slightest  conception 
that  there  was  anything  near  them  of  an  extraordinary  charac- 
ter." 

March  5. — "  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn." — Matthew  v.  4. 

That  mourn  over  their  alienation  from  God. — Over  their 
past  years  of  ungodliness. — Over  the  evil  that  they  have 
wrought  in  the  world. — Over  their  neglected  opportunities  of 
usefulness. — Over  their  moral  unloveliness. — Over  their  insen- 
sibility ; — their  irresolution  ; — their  bad  memory  for  sacred 
things. — Over  the  unsatisfactory  condition  of  the  church. — The 
sin  and  danger  of  those  near  and  dear  to  them. — The  oppres- 
sion, unrighteousness  and  misery  that  desolate  the  whole  earth. 

They  mourn  over  the  fugitive  loveliness  that  meets  them  in 
their  path.  They  hear  the  whole  creation  groaning  in  pain. 
They  mourn  to  see  so  many  exquisite  and  magnificent  works 
of  God,  defiled  and  dishonored  by  sin. 

But  their  mourning  has  its  limits.  It  is  lost  in  a  sea  of 
blessing.  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn.  Happiness  is  linked 
to  their  mourning.     This  beatitude  comes  from  the  lips  of  the 


76  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

Lord  Jesus  to  kiss  away  their  tears.  They  are  blessed,  be- 
cause their  mourning  is  an  important  preliminary  of  their  de- 
liverance from  that  which  they  mourn.  Because  they  are  in 
sympathy  with  Christ.  Because  a  thousand  consolatory  ex- 
pressions of  God's  word  come  trooping  to  the  chamber  of  their 
sorrow.  Because  their  heart  is  fructified  thereby  to  yield  the 
flowers  and  fruits  of  joy. 

Sometimes  there  is  not  the  consciousness  of  the  blessing. 
At  such  times  Grod  puts  our  tears  in  his  bottle.  He  does  not 
wipe  them  away ;  but  keeps  them  for  future  explanation,  and 
future  vindication  of  his  tenderness.  We  may  slight  our  own 
past  sorrows ;  but  God  slights  them  not.  After  a  long  silence 
perhaps,  he  brings  forth  the  vial  of  our  former  tears,  and 
shows  what  a  wonderful  memory  Love  has.  He  then  clears 
up  the  long  mystery,  and  convinces  us  of  the  perfect  kindness 
of  a  dispensation  that  seemed  so  strange. 


March  6. — "Except  ye  be  converted  and  become  as  little  children,  ye 
shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven." — Matthew  xviii.  3. 

Many  things  are  becoming  in  a  child  that  are  not  in  a  man ; 
and  many  things  required  in  a  man  that  are  not  looked  for  in 
a  child.  The  idea  here,  or  one  aspect  of  it,  is  that  we  should 
be  made  over  again  ^  from  the  very  beginning. 

Simplicity,  freedom  from  guile,  candor,  retiringness,  afiec- 
tionateness,  trust ;  these  things  are  not  uncommon  among  chil- 
dren, and  are  important  elements  of  a  Christian's  character. 
Especially  is  the  Christian  required  to  entertain  towards  God, 
the  feelings  that  parents  expect  from  their  children ;  and  to 
demean  himself  in  the  sight  of  God  as  children  demean  them- 
selves in  their  intercourse  with  those  over  them. 

Are  you  a  little  child  in  this  sense,  that  you  are  willing  to 
learn  all  things  de  novo  from  God  ?  Are  you  willing  to  re- 
ceive what  counsel  he  gives  ?     To  have  all  your  conduct  deter- 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  ii 

iiiiaed  by  him  ?  Your  plans  altered  or  dismissed  by  him  ? 
Your  affections  disposed  of  by  him  ?  l^our  property  taken  by 
him  ?     Your  sorrow  cared  for  by  him  ? 

Are  you  willing  to  live  with  an  open  heart  to  him,  and  con- 
fidingly pour  out  all  your  experiences  into  his  bosom  ?  To 
have  no  secrets  from  him  ?  To  confess  everything  and  to  con- 
fers it  at  once  ? 


March  7. — "How  sweet  are  thy  words  unto  my  taste  !" — Psalm  cxix. 
103. 

Even  the  words  of  a  fellow-creature  of  earth,  how  inex- 
pressibly sweet  sometimes,  how  beyond  all  calculation  precious  I 
All  gold  and  silver  would  be  despised  in  comparison  with  them. 
Thej  come  freighted  with  something  as  dear  as  life,  with  love, 
and  the  heart  is  enriched  with  them  as  though  the  breath  of 
God  had  come  into  it.  But  does  not  this  rainbow  of  earthly 
joy  die  gradually  out  ?  Do  not  the  enrapturing  words  sooner 
or  later  become  exsiccated  in  the  memory,  and  may  they  not 
meet  with  contemptuous  treatment  as  remembrancers  of  a 
worthless  illusion  ?     Indeed  they  do ;  indeed  they  may. 

Xevertheless  the  heart  may  find  its  happiness,  its  true  and 
undying  happiness,  in  icords.  At  this  moment  there  is  nothing 
in  the  whole  world  so  much  to  be  desired  as  certain  words. 
Words  of  love.  Words  expressive  of  infinite  love.  Treasures, 
pleasures,  honors  of  earth,  what  are  they?  My  unsatisfied 
soul  cries  out.  Give  me  words.  Words  whereby  I  ma}^  know 
the  love  that  God  has  towards  me.  Words  declaring  the  un- 
changeable attachment  of  the  Saviour.  Words  purifying  my 
heart.  Emboldening  me  in  prayer.  Exhibiting  to  me  the 
blissful  future.  Words  that  shall  give  life  to  my  dead  powers, 
and  change  me  from  glory  to  glory,  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord. 

Nor  does  my  soul  cry  out  in  vain.  My  palate  hath  a  thou- 
7« 


78  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

sand  appetencies;  nay,  if  they  were  counted,  has  far  more 
than  a  thousand  capacities  for  distinct  perceptions  of  flavor. 
He  who  thus  wondrously  endowed  the  human  palate,  has  made 
to  grow  on  ten  thousand  different  trees,  fruits  with  flavors  ex- 
actly responsive  to  all  these  distinctions  of  taste.  He  who  has 
so  marvellously  and  lovingly  shown  his  acquaintance  with  my 
physical  tastes,  will  he  overlook  the  deeper  wants  of  my  soul, 
and  withhold  those  words  of  consolation  and  of  blessing,  with- 
out which  the  world,  with  all  its  profusion  of  fruit,  were  a 
mere  wilderness  ?  He  will  not.  He  has  given  words  whose 
sweetness  satisfies  the  soul. 

What  is  necessary  in  order  that  we  may  find  God's  words 
sweet  unto  our  taste  ? 

A  belief  that  they  are  in  an  absolute  sense,  God's  words. 
A  belief  that  they  are  God's  words  to  us,  as  individuals, — to 
you,  to  me ;  that  we  have  forfeited  all  title  to  his  favor,  de- 
serve his  everlasting  wrath ;  that  in  his  favor  is  life ;  and  to 
hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness. 


March  8. — "  Be  ye  kind  one  to  another." — Ephesians  iv.  32. 

Not  courteous  merely;  for  courtesy  is  but  one  expression 
of  kindness.  Not  kind  to  this  or  that  choice  one,  with  whom 
you  have  a  facility  of  sympathy;  but  generally.  Be  ye  kind; 
there  are  few  words  in  our  language  more  endowed  with  mean- 
ing than  this.  It  has  both  a  soul  and  a  body.  It  signifies 
both  a  state  of  the  heart,  and  the  manifestations  of  that  state, 
in  acts,  words,  tones,  looks.  Some  words  look  more  to  outward 
acts;  others  more  to  inward  equalities.  We  cannot  say  to 
which  this  most  looks.  It  has  two  hands  so  to  speak,  and 
grasps  both  ideas  refusing  to  let  either  go.  This  word  claims 
also  the  whole  heart.  Kindness  is  not  a  quality  of  one's  na- 
ture :  but  it  is  the  aspect  of  one's  nature.     It  is  not  something 


DAILY    xMEDITATIONS.  79 

to  be  introduced  into  our  "cliaracter ;  but  our  cliaracter  is  to 
be  baptized  in  it,  penetrated  with  it. 

How  this  command  expresses  the  kindness  of  God  !  He  is 
not  satisfied  with  extending  over  you  all  the  day  long  an  azure 
canopy  of  love,  with  making  his  sun  run  for  your  pleasure  his 
daily  course  through  the  skies ;  with  causing  the  breath  of  his 
winds  to  visit  you,  his  flowers  to  bloom  for  you,  his  fruits  to 
ripen,  and  ten  thousand  other  ministries  of  his  to  wait  upon 
you;  he  is  not  satisfied  with  the  proof  of  his  kindness  given 
in  the  knowledge  of  Christ  communicated  to  you;  but  he 
gives  a  solemn  charge  concerning  you  to  every  human  being 
that  comes  near  the  throne  of  grace, — a  charge  to  be  kind  to 
you.  And  when  they  ask,  how  much  is  intended  by  this  com- 
mand, Grod  refers  them  to  the  signal  proof  of  his  own  kind- 
ness, as  the  example  that  may  guide  them  in  their  kindness  to 
you. 

If  you  say,  how  can  I  be  kind  to  those  whose  characters  are 
unamiable,  and  the  look  of  whose  soul  is  not  inviting  ?  By 
looking  at  Grod  over  their  shoulder.  Remember  that  you  are 
pleasing  him  in  showing  kindness  to  them.  Your  goodness 
extendeth  not  to  the  sovereign  of  the  skies ;  you  cannot  be 
kind  to  him ;  but  your  love  to  him  whom  you  have  not  seen 
may  fitly  express  itself,  it  must  do  so,  in  kindness  to  your 
brother  whom  you  have  seen. 


March  9. — "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God." — 
Matthew  v.  8. 

Man  is  without  God.  He  walks  in  the  mansion  of  the 
King  of  kings,  wondering  who  contrived  it,  and  what  has  be- 
come of  its  royal  owner;  sometimes  even  doubting  if  it  ever 
had  a  contriver,  a  proprietor.  To  his  mind,  God,  if  he  is  at 
all,  is  an  absentee.  He  examines  the  treasures  around  him^ 
studies  them,  weighs  them,  grasps  them,  and  speculates  of  the 


80  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

Creator  as  of  one  who  may  be  or  may  not  be.  Generally,  in- 
deed, he  speculates  not  at  all.  In  his  tonception,  God  is  so 
remoto  that  it  is  idle  to  waste  time  in  searching  for  him. 

Yet  God  is  nigh  and  wonderfully  manifest.  To  see  him 
we  need  not  climb  the  empyrean,  nor  wing  our  way  to  a  cen- 
tral sun.  Even  upon  this  earth  it  is  possible  to  behold,  by  vir- 
tue of  an  uttered  spell,  one  after  one  the  successive  walls  of 
the  mystery  of  God  melt  away  and  disappear,  until  the  Al- 
mighty, unveiled  and  glorious,  is  seen  where  the  seraphim  saw 
him  when  they  sang,  "  Holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord  God  Almighty, 
the  whole  earth  is  full  of  thy  glory.^'  To  them  the  whole 
earth  was  full  of  the  glory  of  God,  and  they  would  have  veiled 
their  faces  in  love  and  adoration,  even  in  the  heart  of  Arabia 
Deserta ;  while,  in  the  midst  of  the  most  beautiful  and  teeming 
landscapes  of  the  earth,  man,  unsanclified  man,  condescends  to 
occupy  his  mind  with  the  baffling  question,  "  Is  there  a 
God?" 

Some  who  have  been  taught  from  above  tb  desire  greatly 
the  manifestations  of  God,  and  who  wrestle  earnestly,  perhaps 
passionately,  in  prayer,  that  their  Lord  would  be  pleased  to 
draw  nigh  unto  them,  and  give  them  visions  of  his  excellence, 
would  find  it  to  their  inexpressible  advantage  to  cease  from 
the  pursuit  of  extraordinary  manifestations,  and  by  faith  and 
purity  of  heart  school  themselves  into  the  ability  to  dis- 
cern a  present  God,  and  to  abide  in  blissful  intercourse  with 
him  in  whom  they  live  and  move  and  have  their  being.  Let 
them  understand  that  what  they  need  is  not  the  accomplish- 
ment of  some  change  out  of  themselves — the  bringing  near  of 
something  that  is  afar — but  a  purging  of  their  mental  vision, 
the  removal  of  a  film  that  yet  too  much  beclouds  the  eye  of 
their  soul.  There  is  a  word  with  us,  and  it  is  as  follows : — 
"  Lo !  I  am  with  you  always."  To  the  unbeliever,  a  mere 
word,  and  no  more ;  but  to  the  initiated,  a  means  of  finding 
forever,  and  in  every  place,  the  brightness  of  the  divine  glory. 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  81 

If  any  one  be  offering  the  petition  of  Moses,  "  I  beseech 
thee,  shew  me  thy  glory,"  let  him  hear  the  Saviour  reply, 
"  Seek  purity  of  heart,  and  thou  wilt  find  me.  Be  like  me, 
and  thou  shalt  look  upon  me.  Cease  to  regard  thyself;  be 
meek  and  lowly  of  heart ;  let  no  guile  be  found  in  thy  mouth ; 
delight  thyself  in  the  Lord ;  thus  shall  thy  power  of  discerning 
and  enjoying  me  be  day  by  day  augmented."  This  word 
"  purity"  invites  us  to  linger.  But  when  could  one  satisfy 
himself  with  discourse  upon  it  ? 


March  10. — "Blessed  are  the  peace-makers." — Matthew  v.  9. 

Christ  is  the  Prince  of  peace.  Peace  on  earth  is  the  object 
of  the  Messiah's  mission,  said  the  angels  in  their  song.  His 
followers  are  accordingly  sons  of  peace.  They  have  peace  with 
God,  and  they  are  pacificators ;  they  follow  peace  with  all  men. 
Their  great  object  is  to  induce  men  to  lay  aside  their  hostili- 
ties, and  renounce  their  resentments.  This  is  their  vocation 
in  the  world.  They  seek  to  extend  the  empire  of  their  IMas- 
ter ;  but  as  that  empire  (and  that  alone)  is  peace,  they  seek  no 
other  victory  than  that  which  consists  in  bringing  them  one 
to  another  in  holy  concord. 

Yet  Christ  said,  I  came  not  to  bring  peace,  but  a  sword. 
His  word,  launched  into  a  family,  comes  often  like  a  thunder- 
bolt, riving  and  shattering  the  harmonies  that  had  before  ex- 
isted.    It  is  like  fire,  and  like  a  hammer. 

The  word  of  Christ  is  stern  in  its  opposition  to  all  that  is 
incompatible  with  true  peace.  Peace  with  sin,  is  what  it  ever 
must  make  war  upon.  If  we  are  peace-makers,  it  is  by  means 
of  the  gospel  of  peace.  We  seek  to  make  men  acquainted 
with  the  cruel  facts  of  their  present  captivity  to  sin,  and  alien- 
ation from  God ;  to  tell  them  of  the  peace  of  God  which  pass- 
eth  all  understanding;  to  bring  them  into  sweet  accord  with 
the  great  author  of  their  being ;  to  have  them  moulded  by  the 


bZ  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

Holy  Spirit  into '  a  peace-loving  disposition ;  to  enfranelilse 
them  from  pride,  selfishness,  covetousness,  mibelief,  malice,  un- 
charitableness,  moral  weakness,  and  the  other  natural  enemies 
of  peace.  Some  that  are  near  and  dear  to  them  may  turn 
against  them,  and  the  manifestation  of  bitterness  on  the  part 
of  these  may  seem  to  belie  the  claim  of  the  gospel  to  be  a 
pacificator;  but  that  manifestation  only  afibrds  scope  for  an 
exhibition  of  long-suffering,  kindness,  gentleness,  and  tender 
interest — in  a  word,  for  the  exhibition  of  a  heaven-born  peace, 

A  sea  of  opposition  has  ever  raged  around  the  good — some- 
times more,  sometimes  less  fiercely.  But,  like  the  coral  islands 
— whose  serene  unruffled  lakes,  stately  palms,  and  quiet  tene- 
ments present  a  wonderful  contrast  with  the  reef-broken  angry 
ocean  around — the  elect  of  Grod,  the  friends  of  the  gospel, 
have  peace  with  God,  follow  peace  with  all  men,  and  exhibit 
the  fruits  of  righteousness,  even  when  persecuted  by  the 
world. 

Commune  with  yourself  touching  this  thing,  and  ask,  "  Am  I 
a  peace-maker?  Do  I  love  well  the  things  that  make  for 
peace  ?  Does  it  grieve  me  to  behold  men  unacquainted  wdth 
the  Prince  of  Peace  ?  Do  I  make  manifest  in  my  own  life 
that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  righteousness,  peace  and  joy  in 
the  Holy  Ghost  ?  Do  I  understand  and  observe  the  precept 
to  speak  evil  of  no  man?  When  I  hear  of  strife  between 
those  who  should  be  friends,  does  it  grieve  me  as  though  I 
heard  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  cholera  in  their  families  ? 
And,  as  the  physician  feels  that  he  has  a  mission  among  the 
sick,  do  I  arise  at  the  report  of  strife,  and  hasten  on  an  em- 
bassy of  peace  to  the  conflicting  parties  ?  In  a  word,  am  I  a 
merchant  with  much  balm  of  Gilead,  seeking  to  dispose  of  it 
among  all,  and  to  assuage  the  desolating  enmities  of  the  world  ? 
And  is  my  constant  prayer  this,  that  God  would  teach  me  how 
I  may  most  thoroughly  subserve  the  cause  of  peace  in  the 
world?'' 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  83 

March  11. — "Endure  hardness  as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ." — 
2  Timothy  ii.  3. 

If  you  are  a  disciple  of  Christ,  you  are  a  soldier  of  Christ. 
If  you  are  an  expectant  of  salvation,  you  are  a  follower  of  the 
captain  of  salvation.  When  it  was  proposed  to  you  to  become 
his  follower,  it  was  distinctly  intimated  that  you  were  to  follow 
him  to  a  field  of  conflict. 

Endure  hardness — that  is,  endure  things  hard  to  he  endured. 
The  army  of  Christ  resembles  not  a  Northern  army  rushing 
down  from  its  inhospitable  home  into  the  fertile  plains  and 
genial  climate  of  Italy,  encountering  a  dispirited  and  ener- 
vated race,  and  grasping  with  a  facile  hand  the  wealth  and 
honors  of  that  region ;  but  resembles  rather  the  little  company 
that  gathered  around  David  in  the  days  of  Saul's  indignation, 
and  followed  him  from  glen  to  glen,  from  rock  to  rock,  sleeping 
under  the  open  skies  or  in  caverns,  snatching  their  scanty  food 
where  they  found  it,  every  moment  on  the  alert  for  their  nu- 
merous and  powerful  enemies,  with  the  whole  nation  ready  to 
fall  upon  and  crush  them,  and  with  nothing  to  look  to  but  the 
promise  of  God,  the  promise  of  a  kingdom.  We  know  that 
it  is  our  Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  us  the  kingdom ;  not 
that  we  should  dream  that  we  have  it  now.  We  say  therefore 
with  Elisha,  "Is  it  a  time  to  receive  money,  and  to  receive 
garments,  and  olive-yards,  and  vineyards,  and  sheep,  and  oxen, 
and  man-servants',  and  maid-servants  ?"  Rather  is  it  a  time 
to  endure  hardness.  For  the  servant  is  not  greater  than  his 
Lord ;  the  soldier  not  greater  than  his  general. 

Therefore  let  us  consecrate  what  we  have  to  God ;  cease 
from  seeking  great  things  of  earth  for  ourselves ;  receive  in 
sweet  submission  the  daily  trials  that  will  force  their  way  into 
the  presence  of  the  Christian,  in  whatever  retired  apartment 
he  may  dwell ;  and  give  ourselves  heartily  to  the  conflict  with 
our  adversary,  in  whatsoever  form  he  may  approach  us.  What 
things  to  some  are  hard,  to  others  are  not;   our  Commander 


84  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

places  us  in  such  a  corps  as  is  most  likely  to  furnish  us  with 
the  probation  that  we  need.  You  have  to  endure  hardness, 
not  to  seek  it ;  be  sure,  however,  that  the  dread  of  it  does  not 
keep  you  out  of  any  path  in  which  God  would  have  you  walk. 


March  12. — "  Light  is  sown  for  the  righteous." — Psalm  Ixvii.  11. 

Almost  all  our  sorrow  is  connected  with  darkness,  with  mis- 
conceptions, with  defective  knowledge  of  the  reasons  that  in- 
fluence Grod  in  his  dealings  with  us ;  and  light  is  fitly  used  as 
a  metaphor  expressive  of  gladness  and  of  a  soul-satisfying  man- 
ifestation of  God. 

The  scattered  seed  disappears  in  the  ground  that  receives  it. 
He  that  is  to  eat  its  fruit  does  not  see  it  fall,  knows  nothing 
of  it  in  its  prolonged  incarceration.  Perhaps  he  is  far  away, 
and  millions  stand  between  him  and  it.  He  is  occupied  with 
his  cares,  great  or  minute ;  yet  all  the  while  the  unslumbering, 
unhastening  providence,  of  God  watches  over  that  ripening 
plant,  and  conducts  it  to  a  state  of  faultless  fruitfulness ;  then 
gathers  itj  conveys  it,  and  presents  it  to  him  for  whom  it  was 
intended. 

In  like  manner,  does  God  hide  long  the  blessing  intended 
for  his  servant  that  trusts  in  him ;  and  thus  proves  his  servant 
whether  indeed  he  trusts  in  him. 

This  servant  perhaps  passed  through  a  season  of  strange  and 
inexplicable  experiences.  A  spirit  of  intense  supplication  was 
poured  upon  him,  without  a  single  response  to  his  fervent  pe- 
titions. His  soul  was  consumed  with  desires,  and  those  not 
unhallowed;  yet  the  heaven  of  brass  and  the  earth  of  iron 
seemed  only  to  mock  his  longing.  A  strong  and  an  enduring 
faith  enabled  him  to  grasp  the  mightiest  promises  of  God,  and 
vigorously  to  knock  with  them  at  heaven's  gate;  yet  echo 
seemed  only  to  say,  "  What  is  faith  ?  what  is  a  promise  ?"  He 
was  ready  to  conclude  that  all  creation,  even  all  earth,  and  all 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  85 

heaven,  had  received  an  inviolable  command  from  the  Deity  to 
yield  him  no  light — no,  not  a  glimmer ;  and  that  he  was  given 
over  a  prisoner  to  everlasting  night.  He  drank  the  cup  his 
Grod  had  given  him ;  got  almost  used  to  its  daily  bitterness ; 
became  familiar  with  the  midnight  of  God's  unanswering  prov- 
idence y  wondered  how  God  could  reconcile  it  with  his  perfec- 
tions to  let  prayer  and  sanctified  desire  go  so  long  unanswered ; 
but  wondered  without  murmuring,  and  was  willing  that  God 
should  have  his  own  way,  and  vindicate  as  it  pleased  him,  his 
own  reputation.  Yet  all  the  while  that  wondrous  God,  ap- 
parently cruel,  yet  in  reality  beyond  expression  faithful,  was 
busied  pouring  out  in  superabundant  fullness  in  some  remote 
undreamt-of  spot,  the  supplicated  blessing.  Yes,  God  took  in 
his  hand  a  seed  the  very  day  that  servant  cried  to  him  ;  and  as 
he  continued  in  supplication,  he  continued  enriching  the  se- 
lected object,  freighting  the  chartered  vessel;  a  thousand  of 
his  providential  angels  were  commanded  to  wait  upon  it,  and 
bring  it  every  excellent  ornament,  load  it  with  most  beautiful 
fruit.  Light  was  sown,  light  was  reared,  light  was  perfected. 
Then,  with  no  little  joy  on  the  part  of  the  heavenly  ones,  who 
had  been  in  the  secret,  the  unexpecting  suppliant  was  brought 
into  the  presence  of  the  light,  and  with  equal  confusion,  ad- 
miration, and  delight,  saw  that  the  Almighty  had  not  despised 
his  affliction,  nor  disregarded  his  impassioned  supplication. 

Captives  in  Egypt,  the  Israelites  cried  unto  God.  They 
cried  vehemently,  and  long;  yet,  God  came  not.  They  had 
boasted  of  their  God  to  the  Egyptians  as  the  hearer  of  prayer ; 
and  the  Egyptians  waited  with  them  to  see  whether  he  would 
come ;  but  at  last  taunted  them  with  the  fruitlessness  of  their 
prayers,  and  recommended  them  to  call  upon  the  idols  of 
Egypt.  But  all  the  while  God  was  listening  eagerly  to  their 
cries,  and  daily  hea^g  up  a  depository  of  blessing  in  answer 
to  them.  His  selected  seed  was  in  the  land  of  Midian.  There 
dwelt  and  wandered  Moses,  the  shepherd.  Ten  thousand  prayers 


86  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

for  deliverance,  offered  up  by  the  fixr-off  captives,  were  an- 
swered in  ten  thousand  incidents  and  influences,  all  tending  to 
make  this  Moses  one  of  the  meekest  of  men,  God-fearing, 
nobly  intellectual,  sympathetic,  believing.  At  length,  we  may 
suppose,  the  Israelites  had  almost  begun  to  think  that  God  had 
given  no  heed  to  their  misery,  and  to  their  prayers.  But  Moses 
appears;  the  light  that  had  been  sown  dawned  upon  them; 
and  sounding  the  loud  timbrel,  they  went  forth  celebrating  the 
faithfulness  of  God. 

Even  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  was  first  a  seed  in  the  si- 
lence and  solitude  of  Bethlehem,  and  remained  long  unmani- 
fested  in  the  obscurity  of  Nazareth.  So  Paul  in  Tarsus.  It 
was  not  till  many  a  year  after  God  had  sown  this  light  for  the 
church,  that  Barnabas  went  to  Tarsus  and  brought  him  thence 
to  Antioch,  where  he  was  commended  to  the  grace  of  God  and 
sent  forth  to  be  the  means  of  dispelling  much  darkness  in  Asia 
Minor,  Greece,  and  Italy. 

And  is  there  light  now  sown  somewhere,  growing  unto 
Isaiah  Ix  ? 

March  13. — "  Serve  the  Lord  with  gladness," — Psalm  c.  2. 

It  is  our  privilege  to  serve  the  Lord  in  all  things.  It  is  ours 
to  please  the  Lord  in  loosing  the  latchet  of  a  shoe ;  and  to  en- 
joy the  expression  of  this  favor  therein.  The  servant  of  God 
is  not  serving  at  the  same  time  another  master ;  he  has  not 
been  hired  for  occasional  service ;  he  abides  in  the  service  of 
his  God,  and  cannot  be  about  anything  but  his  Master's  busi- 
ness; he  eats,  he  drinks,  he  sleeps,  he  walks,  he  discourses,  he 
findeth  recreation,  all  by  way  of  serving  God.  For  the  will  of 
the  Lord  imposes  at  one  time  a  task ;  commands  at  another 
time  a  recreation ;  bids  him  listen  in  this  hour  to  music,  and 
in  that  to  speak  the  words  of  life ;  places  in  his  hand  a  news- 
paper now,  and  after  a  while  a  pen ;  guides  his  feet  to  the  bed- 
side of  the  sick,  and  to  the  hovels  of  the  degraded ;  leads  him 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  87 

to  the  banqueting  chamber  of  the  rich,  and  gives  him  words 
for  that  place,  and  seats  him  at  the  humble  board  of  the  labor- 
ing man,  and  teaches  him  words  for  that  occasion ;  bids  him 
bow  the  knee  in  prayer,  and  bids  him  also  come  forth  from 
prayer ;  compels  him  to  exhibit  gravity,  and  again  bids  him  be 
all  cheerfulness.  The  will  of  Grod  concerning  us  is  manifold. 
Let  us  pray  to  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  his  will  in  all 
wisdom. 

Serve  the  Lord  with  gladness.  Can  you  bear  to  be  waited 
upon  by  a  servant  who  goes  moping  and  dejected  to  his  every 
task  ?  You  would  rather  have  no  servant  at  all,  than  one  who 
evidently  finds  your  service  cheerless  and  irksome. 

Serve  him  with  gladness,  for  he  is  the  best  of  beings. 

For  his  commandments  are  not  grievous. 

For  he  is  your  Saviour,  as  well  as  Creator;  your  friend,  as 
well  as  Lord. 

The  angels,  so  much  greater  than  yourself,  know  no  reason 
why  they  should  not  serve  him  with  gladness. 

In  serving  him,  you  serve  yourself. 

You  make  religion  attractive. 

You  o'et  a  fitness  for  heaven. 


March  14. — "  He  will  regard  the  prayer  of  the  destitute." — Psalm  cii.  17. 

A  man  that  is  destitute  knows  how  to  pray.  He  needs  not 
any  instructor.  His  miseries  indoctrinate  him  wonderfully  in 
the  art  of  ofi"ering  prayer.  Let  us  know  ourselves  destitute, 
that  we  may  know  how  to  pray;  destitute  of  strength,  of  wis- 
dom, of  due  influence,  of  true  happiness,  of  proper  faith,  of 
thorough  consecration,  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  of 
righteousness. 

These  words  introduce  and  stand  in  immediate  connection 
with  a  prophecy  of  glorious  things  to  be  witnessed  in  the  lat- 
ter times.     We  profess  to  be  eager  for  the  accomplishment  of 


88  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

tliose  marvellous  tilings ;  but  are  we  offering  the  prayer  of  the 
destitute  ?  On  the  contrary,  is  not  the  Church  at  large  too 
much  like  the  church  of  Laodicea  ?  Will  not  a  just  interpre- 
tation of  many  of  its  acts  and  ways,  bring  forth  the  words,  ''  I 
am  rich  and  increased  with  goods,  and  have  need  of  nothing  ?" 
And  do  not  its  prayers  meet  with  this  reproachful  answer — 
"  Thou  art  wretched,  and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and 
naked,  and  knowest  it  not.  Thy  temporal  affluence  implies 
not  spiritual  affluence.  Thy  spiritual  condition  is  inversely  as 
the  worldly  prosperity  that  has  turned  thy  head.  I  counsel 
thee  to  buy  of  me  gold  tried  in  the  fire.  Give  all  thy  trashy 
gold — trashy  while  it  is  with  thee — give  it  to  my  poor ;  and  I 
will  give  thee  true  gold — namely,  a  sense  of  thy  misery  and 
meanness ;  a  longing  for  grace,  purity,  usefulness ;  a  love  of 
thy  fellow-men ;  and  my  love  shed  abroad  in  thy  heart." 


March  14. — "  Bless  the  Lord,  0  my  souL" — Psalm  ciii.  1. 

Daily,  habitually.  Consider  that  thou  hast  every  day  an 
engagement  with  Grod  to  praise  him.  He  has  certainly  a 
claim  upon  thee  to  consider  and,  in  some  measure,  estimate 
his  benefits  bestowed  on  thee.  A  generous  soul  cannot  bear 
to  think  that  perhaps  some  one  has  bestowed  on  him  some  fa- 
vor of  which  he  is  not  aware.  The  thought  of  an  unacknow- 
ledged kindness  would  keep  him  awake  at  night. 

The  command  to  bless  the  Lord  is  a  command  to  take  up, 
and  not  tread  under  foot,  a  shower  of  joys  that  have  de- 
scended upon  the  place  where  you  stand.  Some  fruit  comes 
to  you  wrapped  in  many  envelopes.  You  tear  them  off,  throw 
them  away,  eat  the  fruit,  and  think  of  something  else.  But 
those  envelopes  were  bank-notes  of  great  value.  Grod  gives 
you  something;  you  say  this  is  to  be  eaten,  and  you  eat  it; 
but  it  was  not  merely  given  to  be  eaten ;  it  was  given  to  re- 
veal unto  you  something  of  the  wisdom,  power,  love,  and  con- 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  89 

descension  of  God ;  to  spread  out  before  you  an  illuminated 
page  of  a  book  of  heaven.  I  say  again,  the  command  to  bless 
God  is  a  command  to  take  up  many  joys  that  you  have  let 
fiill. 


March  15. — "The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom." — 
Psalm  cxi.  10. 

It  would  be  strange  indeed  if  it  were  otherwise.  If  we  be- 
lieve in  God  the  Creator  of  all,  the  Giver  of  every  good  gift, 
and  if  we  believe  it  to  be  his  wish  that  men  should  acknow- 
ledge his  authority,  and  yield  to  his  guidance,  we  cannot  but 
believe  that  he  will  bestow  his  best  gifts,  especially  such  a  gift 
as  wisdom,  on  those  only  who  defer  to  his  authority,  and  aim 
to  please  him.  The  supposition  that  this  gift  is  as  fairly  be- 
stowed upon  the  ungodly  as  upon  any  implies  that  God  disre- 
gards all  moral  distinctions,  and  has  no  tokens  of  his  satisfac- 
tion to  bestow  on  those  whose  great  concern  is  to  honor  him. 
He  undoubtedly  bestows  many  gifts  upon  the  wicked,  for  a 
season,  that  he  may  lead  them  to  repentance  by  the  experi- 
ence of  his  goodness.  But  his  best  gifts  are  given  after,  not 
before,  their  repentance. 

Can  it  then  be  said  that  the  non-religious  world  is  without 
wisdom?  Has  it  no  Aristotle,  no  Socrates,  no  Tacitus,  no 
Goethe,  no  Gibbon  ?  Let  us  understand  what  wisdom  is.  It 
is  not  any  mere  amount  of  knowledge  that  constitutes  wisdom. 
Appropriate  knowledge  is  essential  to  wisdom.  A  man  who 
has  not  the  knowledge  appropriate  to  his  position,  who  does 
not  know  himself  in  his  relation  to  God  and  to  his  fellow-men, 
who  is  misinformed  as  to  his  duties,  his  dangers,  his  necessi- 
ties, though  he  may  have  written  innumerable  works  of  a 
most  exalted  character,  yet  is  he  to  be  set  down  as  a  man 
without  wisdom.  What  is  it  to  you  that  your  servant  is  ac- 
quainted with  mathematics,  if  he  is  ignorant  of  your  will,  and 
of  the  way  to  do  it  ?     The  genius  of  a  Voltaire,  a  Spinoza,  a 


90  DAILY    MEDITATIOXS. 

Carlyle,  only  makes  their  folly  the  more  striking.  As  though 
a  man  floating  rapidly  onwards  to  the  Fails  of  Niagara,  should 
occupy  himself  in  drawing  a  very  admirable  picture  of  the 
scenery.  Men  who  are  exceedingly  great  in  the  world's  esti- 
mation have  made  the  most  signal  blunders  with  regard  to  the 
most  important  things ;  and  it  is  only  because  these  things  are 
not  considered  important  by  the  world,  that  the  reputation  of 
these  men  remains. 

If  you  have  learned  to  estimate  things  in  some  measure  as 
God  estimates  them,  to  desire  what  he  offers,  to  relinquish 
what  he  forbids,  and  to  recognize  the  duties  that  he  has  ap- 
pointed you,  you  are  in  the  path  of  wisdom,  and  the  great 
men  we  have  been  speaking  about  are  flir  behind  you — far 
from  the  narrow  gate  which  you  have  entered.  He  only  is 
wise,  who  can  call  Christ  the  wisdom  of  God. 

The  fear  of  God  is  that  deference  to  God  which  leads  you 
to  subordinate  your  will  to  his : — makes  you  intent  on  pleasing 
him ;  penitent  in  view  of  past  wilfulness  •  happy  in  his  smile ; 
transported  by  his  love ;  hopeful  of  his  glory. 


March  17. — "Say ye  to  the  righteous, that  it  shall  be  well  with  him." — 
Isaiah  iii.  10. 

Fear  not,  thou  righteous  man,  thou  lover  of  righteousness, 
who  hast  taken  Christ  as  thy  righteousness,  and  whose  sincere 
desire  is  to  walk  even  as  he  also  walked,  who  hath  made  the 
Lord  thy  refuge,  and  hath  put  thy  trust  in  the  shadow  of  his 
wings,  fear  not ;  we  bring  thee  a  message  from  God ;  it  shall 
be  well  with  thee. 

Thy  sins  alarm  thee.  They  say;  "  We  have  possessed  thee 
all  thy  days,  and  thy  heart  is  our  home.  Thou  hast  always 
served  us,  and  every  day  of  habit  has  bound  thee  by  a  new 
chain  to  us.  Of  late  thou  hast  been  making  fearful  struggles ; 
hast  busied  thyself  day  and  night  with  God's  word ;  thrown 
thyself  into  the  society  of  the  good ;    repented  of  sin ;   as- 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  91 

pired  to  heaven;  and  ha^.  even  exercised  faitli  in  Clirist. 
Yet  here  we  are  wlicre  we  always  were ;  swaying  thee  as  of 
old ;  mocking  tliy  new  and  frantic  endeavors.  We  are  a  part 
of  thy  life ;  is  it  not  evident  ?  And  the  attempt  to  escape 
from  ns  is  as  though  thy  arms  should  attempt  to  tear  them- 
selves from  thy  body.  None  can  deliver  thee  from  the  body 
of  this  death." 

Thy  sins  shall  not  have  dominion  over  thee ;  it  shall  be  well 
with  thee.  Thy  present  experience  is  good  for  thee.  It  is 
good  for  thee  to  know  the  extent  of  thy  captivity,  that  thou 
mayest  know  how  great  a  deliverance  is  required ;  and  to  know 
the  true  character  of  thy  captors,  that  thou  mayest  love  him 
who  setteth  thee  free.  It  is  because  Christ  is  at  the  door  that 
there  is  this  agitation  and  conflict  within.  It  shall  be  well 
with  thee. 

Unbelief  says,  "  It  might  be  well  with  thee,  if  thou  hadst  a 
stronger  faith.  But  what  can  Christ  do  for  one  that  has  scarce 
any  faith,  and  dares  not  grasp  the  promises  ?  No,  it  can  never 
be  well  with  thee."  We  reply,  It  shall  be  well  with  thee.  The 
mightiest  faith  has  an  insignificant  beginning.  Thy  faith  shall 
grow ;  it  grows  while  we  speak.  Take  this  word  God  sends 
thee,  and  be  strong  in  fliith. 

Timidity  says,  "  Who  knows  what  fierce  antagonists  may 
start  up  along  this  narrow  path  ?  Though  thou  triumph  over 
the  present  evil,  yet  the  future  things  may  prove  too  much  for 
thee."  Who  maketh  thee  to  triumph  over  the  present  evil  ? 
And  is  he  not  a  match  for  the  future  evil  ?  The  future  difii- 
culties  shall  only  afford  new  occasions  for  the  display  of  his 
faithfulness  and  all-sufficiency. 

The  world  says,  "  It  shall  not  be  well  with  thee.  We  have 
traced  the  course  of  thousands  who  gave  themselves  up  to  the 
pursuit  of  righteousness.  They  fared  not  well,  but  ill.  They 
were  cut  oft*  by  their  ideas  of  duty  from  all  our  joys;  and 
during  all  the  journey  of  life  they  vrere  haunted  by  a  sense 


92  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

of  unfulfilled  obligation,  were  vexed  by  an  inward  conflict,  and 
racked  by  fears  of  the  future ;  and  all  men  were  against  them ; 
gloom,  gloom,  gloom,  was  the  sum  of  their  experience."  But 
here  the  righteous  man  answers  for  himself,  and  says,  "  This 
representation  is  false ;  it  is  because  a  life  of  piety  hath  no 
attractions  for  thee  that  thou  dost  so  describe  it.  Thy  boasted 
joys  are  but  blooming  poisons,  banquets  spread  by  an  enemy. 
It  is  not  well  with  thee,  but  with  him  that  leaveth  thee." 
Say  ye  to  the  righteous  that  it  shall  be  well  with  him  ! 


March  18, — "  I  will  trust." — Isaiah  xii.  2 

Not  m  uncertain  riches,  not  in  my  own  sagacity,  not  in  my 
probity,  not  in  my  social  position,  not  in  the  felicity  of  circum- 
stances ;  not  in  the  friendship  of  the  world,  not  even  in  the 
favor  of  Christians ;  not  in  the  sacraments,  not  in  my  prayers, 
nor  in  my  repentance,  nor  in  my  obedience. 

I  will  trust  in  Him  that  became  man  in  order  that  he  might 
bear  my  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree. 

I  will  trust  in  him,  for  he  is  the  most  trustworthy  being  in 
the  universe.  Shall  a  child  trust  in  its  parent,  a  bride  in  the 
bridegroom,  a  soldier  in  his  general,  a  captive  in  his  deliverer, 
a  patient  in  his  physician, — shall  men  in  all  conditions  abound 
in  trust  towards  their  fellow-men,  and  shall  I  not  trust  in  the 
Almighty  who  hath  shown  himself  all-gracious?  Is  there 
more  than  one  being  existent,  of  whom  it  can  be  said  that 
heaven  and  eartl:^  shall  pass  away  sooner  than  his  least  word  ? 
There  is  but  one,  and  in  him  I  will  trust. 

"  Tcike^^^  says  Satan ;  "  trii^t'^  says  Grod. 

"  Almost  nobody  trusts,"  says  my  unbelieving  neighbor. 
For  that  very  reason  I  will  trust.  Is  it  not  an  infamy  that 
the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  the  source  of  all  blessedness, 
should  be  untrusted  ?  You  lie  down  to  sleep  trusting  in  your 
breath  that  it  will  continue  to  come  and  go  all  night,  although 


DAILr    MEDITATIONS.  ,        93 

a  single  interruption  would  be  fatal;  trusting  in  the  beams 
over  your  bead  that  they  will  not  break ;  in  the  wind  that  it 
will  not  blow  any  inflammable  thing  into  the  vicinity  of  your 
lamp ;  in  the  atmosphere  that  it  will  not  allow  any  pestilential 
influences  to  come  nigh  your  couch ;  in  ten  thousand  things 
without  life  or  sense ;  and  shall  not  I  trust  in  him  in  whom  T 
live,  and  move,  and  have  my  being  ? 

I  will  trust,  said  Peter ;  and  the  sea  became  as  rock  beneath 
his  feet.  I  will  trust,  said  the  Syro-Phoenician  woman; 
though  the  disciples  said,  send  her  away ;  and  her  daughter 
was  healed.  I  will  take,  said  Balaam ;  and  became  rich  for  a 
day,  accursed  forever.  Let  me  live,  said  Jonah,  and  was  cast 
into  the  sea.  I  will  trust,  said  he  afterward,  and  all  Nineveh 
bowed  at  his  word.  I  will  trust,  said  Daniel,  and  was  deliv- 
ered. I  will  save  my  life,  said  Peter,  and  denied  his  Lord.  I 
will  trust,  said  he  afterward,  and  laid  him  down  to  sleep ;  then 
came  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  and  brought  him  forth  from 
prison.  What  mean  ye  to  weep  and  to  break  my  heart  ?  said 
Paul;  I  will  trust. 

March  19. — "A  bruised  reed  shall  he  not  break." — Matthew  xii.  20. 

In  carrying  out  a  great  enterprise,  individual  sufl'ering  is 
very  little  regarded.  Revolutions  are  not  generally  effected 
without  the  immolation  of  many  lives.  Thousands,  how  many 
thousands,  of  human  reeds  were  first  bruised,  then  broken,  and 
thrown  to  the  winds  of  the  Crimea,  that  Sebastopol  might  be 
taken.  And  can  it  be  that  Christ,  in  going  forth  to  the  con- 
quest of  the  whole  world,  will  not  suffer  a  bruised  and  bent 
reed,  ready  of  itself  to  snap  asunder,  will  not  suffer  one  such 
to  be  broken  ?  In  a  revolution  that  is  to  affect  the  destinies 
of  so  many  millions  to  all  eternity,  is  it  possible  that  he  will 
be  tenderly  solicitous  for  the  meanest  and  weakest  individual 
of  his  host  ?  It  is  possible,  it  is  true.  He  has  but  to  let  it 
alone,  and  it  will  break ;  but  he  will  not  let  it  alone.     How 


94  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

tlien  ?  AVill  lie  stay  the  marcli  of  tlie  whole  army  out  of 
consideration  for  a  poor,  frail,  tempted  creature  ?  Will  he  for- 
get the  interests  of  the  whole  body  in  his  strange  concern  for 
such  a  one  ?  It  is  not  necessary  that  he  should  do  so.  Were 
his  wisdom  and  power  a  little  less  than  infinite,  this  might 
be  necessary.  But  the  word  infinite  implies  that  he  can  at 
once  make  all  things  work  together  for  the  good  of  each,  and 
for  the  good  of  all. 

"  He  is  all  that  you  say,"  remarks  some  one;  "but  he  is  the 
Captain  of  our  salvation,  and  must  be  obeyed.  He  is  our 
Master,  and  he  giveth  to«each  of  us  a  work.  No  one  can  ask 
that  it  should  be  otherwise.  But  I  have  a  nature  so  detesta- 
ble, so  undone,  so  repugnant  to  everything  "good,  that  with 
ever  so  good  a  will  to  his  service,  the  least  commandment 
crushes  me,  the  slightest  task  convulses  me." 

The  least  command  crushes  you?  What  is  the  greatest 
command  ?  It  is  that  you  should  love  him  with  all  your 
strength — not  more  than  youcr  strength — not  more  than  your 
powers.  His  burden  is  adapted  to  your  force.  He  asks  from 
a  sapling  the  strength  of  a  sapling ;  from  a  bruised  reed  the 
strength  of  a  bruised  reed.  "  Say  that  I  have  no  strength  at 
all."     That  is  best.     Ask  of  him,  and  he  will  give  thee. 

He  will  give  thee  first  sympathy.  He  will  show  his  pierced 
hands  and  feet,  tell  of  his  sweat  in  the  garden,  and  relate  how 
he  was  once  himself  bruised  for  your  iniquities.  He  will  give 
you  encouragement  by  showing  you  plants  of  righteousness 
flourishing  in  the  courts  of  his  God,  who  once  were  bruised 
reeds. — Peter,  for  instance,  of  whom  Satan  made  sure  once  on 
a  time.  He  will  give  you  a  shield  of  faith — will  succor  you 
in  the  time  of  temptation — will  be  your  strength. 


March  20. — "  Come  unto  me." — Matthew  xi.  28. 
Here  is  an  invitation.     Some  one  invites  you.     Some  one 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  95 

has  thrown  open  his  doors  to  you.  The  words  convey  a  privi- 
lege— you  have  it  now — the  privilege  of  going  to  him.  No 
difficulties  exist  with  him.  If  you  have  a  will  to  go,  you  may 
go.  Ponder  this  fact, — whatever  you  do,  wherever  you  go, 
you  are  nevertheless  among  the  invited. 

He  that  invites  you  has  cast  many  angels  out  of  his  presence 
because  they  were  not  worthy.  The  seraphim,  of  such  ex- 
ceeding might  and  majesty,  are  overwhelmed  at  his  glory. 
His  face  shineth  as  the  sun  in  its  strength.  John,  that  holy 
evangelist,  fell  at  his  feet  as  one  dead.  Yet  he  invites  you — 
has  a  place  for  you — spreads  a  feast  for  you. 

He  died  upon  the  cross  that  you  might  have  this  invitation. 
And  if  you  would  know  what  that  exceeding  great  cry  was 
with  which  he  gave  up  the  ghost,  know  that  it  was  this,  "  Come 
unto  me  !     It  is  jfinished  !  thou  mayest  come  !" 

How  many  of  his  providences  were  simply  echoes  of  this 
cry.  He  bereft  thee  of  dear  friends ;  deprived  thee  of  health ; 
stripped  thee  of  wealth;  baffled  thee  in  thy  schemes;  de- 
stroyed the  world's  illusions ;  that  thou  mightest  hear  this  in- 
vitation, and  come  unto  him. 

Come  then  at  once.     Come  in  earnest.     Come  in  faith. 


March  21. — "Whosoever  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will  I  con- 
fess also  before  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven." — Matthew  x.  32. 

What  an  extraordinary  world  is  this  that  such  a  sentence 
should  ever  have  been  uttered  in  it !  Consider  what  is  implied 
in  these  words.  They  manifestly  imply  that  it  is  an  opprobri- 
ous thing  in  the  estimation  of  mankind  to  give  honor  to  him 
who  is  the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory,  and  to  acknow- 
ledge any  connection  with  him.  They  imply  that  it  is  neces- 
sary to  present  the  most  powerful  motives  to  the  mind  in  order 
to  subdue  the  feeling  of  shame  that  would  naturally  arise  in 
the  confession  of  Christ.     Is  not  this  a  fallen  world  ?     Is  not 


96  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

the  race  of  mankind  an  utterly  depraved  race  ?  Were  it  ne- 
cessary to  hold  up  powerful  motives  in  order  to  induce  a  person 
to  confess  Lis  alliance  with  some  aj'ch-villain,  one  could  think 
better  of  man.  But  the  most  magnificent  rewards  are  pro- 
posed, as  an  inducement  to  those  who  are  acquainted  with 
Christ,  to  acknowledge  their  acquaintance ;  to  those  who  rely 
on  him  for  salvation,  to  confess  him  as  their  Saviour. 

The  world  that  pursued  Christ  unrelentingly,  until  it  had 
driven  him  forth,  has  ever  since  been  doing  its  best  to  make 
his  followers  silent  concerning  him.  "  Thou  shalt  not  confess 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  is  the  first  and  great  commandment 
of  the  world,  and  if  it  can  enly  get  this  obeyed  it  will  give  a 
dispensation  from  all  other  duties.  It  has  tried  fire  and  the 
sword  abundantly ;  but  in  these  latter  days  its  tactics  are  more 
subtle.  It  is  all  courtesy,  and  addressing  the  Christian,  says : 
— "  There  is  a  great  deal  that  is  admirable  about  Christianity, 
and  I  blame  myself  very  much  that  I  have  so  neglected  it. 
x\llow  me  to  be  your  scholar.  I  will  sit  at  your  feet,  and  learn 
of  you.  In  return  I  will  be  happy  to  teach  you  what  I  know. 
We  must  go  hand  in  hand  along  the  journey  of  life.''  The 
Christian  is  charmed  by  this  amicable  proposal,  and  falls  into 
the  snare.  The  world  learns  something,  just  to  lull  the  Church 
asleep ;   and  the  Church  learns,  alas !  much  of  the  world. 


March  22. — "  Sin  has  reigned  unto  death." — Romans  v.  21. 

About  the  reign  of  sin  there  is  no  doubt.  The  tyrant,  with 
an  astonishing  refinement  of  tyranny,  forbade  you  to  believe 
in  his  tyranny,  and  compelled  you  to  go  hither  and  thither 
chanting  his  praises  as  though  he  were  one  of  the  most  loving 
of  masters.  How  grossly  you  were  deluded.  A  king  is  for 
the  protection  of  his  subjects;  but  this  monarch  reigned  unto 
death.  He  was  a  deformed  and  revolting  monster ;  you  were 
cheated  into  the  idea  of  his  loveliness.     He  taught  you  to 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  97 

boast  of  liberty,  wliile  lie  loaded  you  more  and  more  with 
chains.  You  staggered  beneath  great  burdens  which  you  bore 
to  his  treasury,  while  you  were  taught  to  believe  that  you  were 
enriching  yourself.  He  showed  you  pictures  of  superb  ban- 
quets, and  swore  that  you  should  sit  down  at  such ;  and  all  the 
while  he  gave  you  but  mouldy  crusts  to  eat.  He  introduced 
his  courtiers  to  you  as  a  troop  of  friends ;  but  gave  them  each 
a  whip  to  lash  you.  He  gave  you  a  poisoner  to  be  your  cup- 
bearer ;  a  gaoler  to  be  your  guardian ;  a  headsman  to  be  your 
guide.  An  earthquake  rocked  your  house;  your  bed  was 
poised  on  the  verge  of  an  abyss ;  and  a  drawn  sword  was  sus- 
pended over  your  table.  You  supposed  that  there  was  a  sun 
there,  but  it  was  sackcloth ;  and  a  moon,  but  it  was  blood.  In 
the  garden  was  the  upas  tree,  and  in  the  field  the  hemlock. 
The  streets  of  that  city  of  death  were  streets  of  tombs.  Ye 
shall  not  surely  die,  said  all  men,  one  to  another ;  but  they 
were  all  dead  men  while  they  spake.  Sin  reigned  unto  death, 
and  cheated  all  his  subjects  into  the  idea  that  they  owed  life 
to  him. 

Happy  for  you  that  this  is  a  thing  of  the  past.  Sin  hath 
reigned,  but  has  now  no  more  dominion  over  you.  You  have 
been  translated  into  another  kingdom. 


March  23. — "Led  by  the  Spirit  of  God." — Romans  viii.  14. 

Led  hy  the  Spirit  of  God.  By  the  glorious  being  who  led 
Christ.  Without  him  was  nothing  made  that  was  made. 
Without  him  the  sceptre  of  the  Godhead  was  never  once  ex- 
tended. The  highest  archangel  would  not  stir  a  step  without 
him. 

The  children  of  God,  all  who  inherit  eternal  life,  have  this 
infallible  characteristic,  they  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 
They  are  led  by  him  to  a  sense  of  their  sinfulness  and  short- 
sightedness ;  to  an  open  recognition  of  the  same ;  to  the  throne 

9 


98  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

of  grace;  to  the  use  of  the  most  prevailing  arguments  in 
prayer;  to  the  society  of  Christians,  the  assemblies  of  the 
saints;  away  from  temptation;  through  temptation;  to  the 
dwellings  of  the  poor  and  needy;  to  the  resorts  of  the  igno- 
rant and  erring. 

Let  some  of  them  be  asked,  why  are  you  scattered  abroad 
over  the  face  of  the  earth,  speaking  diverse  languages,  address-- 
ing  heathens  and  errorists  ?  They  may  in  their  reply  speak 
of  ships  and  carriages,  wind  and  steam,  money  and  skill.  But 
they  must  also  say,  "  The  Spirit  of  God  led  us  hither." 

There  can  be  no  safe  guidance  that  is  not  perpetual.  The 
advantage  of  a  year  may  be  lost  in  an  hour.  If  we  act  inde- 
pendently of  the  Spirit  in  little  things,  we  will  look  for  him 
in  vain  in  great  things. 

His  leading  is  not  violent.  He  acts  by  our  own  convictions 
and  our  own  will.  There  is  nothing  degrading  in  this  guid- 
ance, but  the  highest  possible  exaltation.  God  who  has  given 
us  senses,  understanding,  free-will,  memory,  has  given  us  some- 
thing infinitely  above  them  all,  because  they  all  by  it  enter  into 
their  highest  perfection — namely,  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit. 
Let  the  mariner  say,  "  I  need  no  wind,  for  I  have  a  noble  ship, 
with  ample  suits  of  sails,  an  excellent  crew,  with  charts  and 
compass."  Let  the  commander  of  a  steamer  say,  "  I  need  no 
steam,  no  fuel,  for  the  engine  is  everything  that  could  be  de- 
sired, and  I  have  the  most  skillful  engineers."  But  let  the 
child  of  God  say,  "  I  am  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God." 


March  24. — "Joint  heirs  with  Christ  Jesus." — Komans  viii.  17. 

We  read  of  Christ  that  he  has  been  made  much  better  than 
the  angels,  as  he  hath  by  inheritance  obtained  a  more  excellent 
name  than  they.  God  hath  highly  exalted  him,  and  given  him 
a  name  that  is  above  every  name.  God  hath  treated  Christ  as 
though   he  were  the  only  heir.     All  the  universe  looks  on 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  \)\) 

amazed,  as  lie  ascendeth  up  above  all  principality  and  power, 
and  might,  and  dominion,  above  every  name  that  is  named ; 
and  tlien  learns  with  greatly  more  amazement  that  he  is  a  repre- 
sentative heir ;  that  there  is  a  vast  number  in  union  with  him, 
and  that  each  of  these  is  joint-heir  with  him,  not  for  the  dimi- 
nution but  for  the  enhancement  of  his  glory. 

An  heir  is  one  who  passes  from  a  state  of  privation  to  a 
state  of  affluence.  Christ  was  the  poorest  of  men  on  this 
earth,  without  where  to  lay  his  head,  without  reputation,  with- 
out a  friend  to  speak  for  him  when  he  was  in  the  hands  of 
sinners,  without  so  much  respect  as  would  hinder  servants 
from  smiting  him,  and  soldiers  from  blindfolding  him  in  mock- 
ery. Soon  see  him  however  in  the  place  of  highest  exaltation. 
And  of  his  disciples  he  says,  "  the  glory  that  thou  hast  given 
me  I  have  given  them."  All  power  in  heaven  and  in  earth  is 
given  unto  him ;  and  even  in  this  believers  have  a  community 
with  him;  for  "he  that  overcometh''  (he  says)  "  and  keepeth 
my  words  unto  the  end,  to  him  will  I  give  power  over  the  na- 
tions,— even  as  I  received  of  my  Father." 

We  are  co-heirs  with  him  of  the  Father's  love ;  and  of  the 
various  expressions  of  the  Father's  love.  For  instance,  the 
peace  of  God,  the  Spirit  of  God,  joy,  strength,  patience,  use- 
fulness, on  the  earth ;  a  building  of  God,  a  house  not  made 
with  hands,  eternal,  in  the  heavens;  pleasures  for  evermore; 
crowns  of  righteousness ;  a  body  like  unto  his  glorious  body, 
spiritual  and  incorruptible ;  and  the  love  of  all  the  holy  ones. 

By  virtue  of  the  warrant  given  in  this  expression,  wherever 
in  the  universe  you  find  anything  of  Christ's,  you  can  say, 
"  this  is  mine." 


March  25. — "  The  glory  which  shall  be  revealed  in  us." — Rom.  viii.  18. 
Ill  US ;  in  me,  in  3'Ou.     Sin,  not  satisfied  with  the  manifesta- 
tion given  of  itself  in  the  angels  that  left  their  first  estate,  not 
satisfied  with   the   dearadation  into  which   it  has  caused  the 


100  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

devils  to  sink,  came  to  you  and  me,  tliat  it  might  obtain  a 
fuller  exhibition.  You  and  I  dwelt  in  a  world  the  soil  of 
which  had  been  moistened  with  Christ's  sweat  of  agony,  with 
the  drops  of  Calvary,  in  a  world  where  the  Grospel  of  God's 
amazing  grace  is  preached  to  every  creature.  Sin  said,  "  It  is 
one  thing  to  make  a  creature  ruin  itself  by  sin ;  it  is  another 
thing  to  make  a  creature,  so  ruined,  daily  and  hourly  treat  with 
contempt  the  proffered  love,  the  Calvary-bought  grace  of  the 
Lord  of  the  universe."  The  very  fabric  of  our  minds  tells 
frightful  tales  of  what  sin  has  wrought  within  us.  Had  our 
aim  been  to  make  ourselves  so  vile  that  the  Spirit  of  Grod 
should  be  utterly  and  eternally  repelled,  we  could  not  have 
gone  further  than  we  have  done.  Sin  reveled  in  its  victory 
over  us ;  but  this  very  victory  only  becomes  the  occasion  of  a 
greater  triumph  on  the  part  of  grace ;  and  the  glory  of  Grod  is 
to  be  revealed  in  us  more  illustriously  than  it  ever  has  been 
revealed  in  any  order  of  beings.  And  we  shall  then  be  kept 
from  self-glorification  by  the  thought  that  it  was  our  excessive 
sin  which  became  the  occasion  of  this  excessive  glory.  "  The 
glory  which  thou  hast  given  me,  I  have  given  them,"  said 
Jesus.  See  Christ  as  Isaiah  saw  him,  surrounded  by  the 
Seraphim ;  and  as  Peter  and  John,  Moses  and  Elias  saw  him 
on  the  mount  of  transfiguration ;  and  as  the  angels  saw  him 
when  he  ascended  up  on  high,  leading  captivity  captive ;  see 
him  as  John  saw  him  when  he  fell  at  his  feet  as  one  dead ; 
see  him  as  all  shall  see  him  when  he  cometh  in  the  clouds  of 
heaven  with  great  power  and  glory ;  and  consider  that  we  shall 
be  like  him.     He  is  glorified  in  us. 

No  wonder  that  an  angelic  host  encamps  around  the  sleep- 
ing-place of  the  believer.  The  believer  is  an  emigrant  from 
the  region  of  the  shadow  of  death,  bound  to  a  country  where 
he  is  to  be  clothed  with  glory  like  that  of  the  King  of  kings. 
Christ  is  to  be  admired  in  us,  honored  in  us,  blessed  in  us,  glorified 
in  us.    It  is  in  gifts  to  us,  in  dignity,  honor,  and  splendor,  enjoyed 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  101 

by  US,  that  God  is  to  make  ma^nifest  to  tlie  universe  hoT^'  beyond 
all  estimation  lie  appreciates  the  merit  of  the  death  of  Christ. 
Help  me,  0  G  od,  in  the  presence  of  my  brother  or  sister,  of 
thy  son  or  daughter,  to  look  with  intense  interest  upon  one 
who  is  to  walk  hereafter  in  the  lustre,  beauty,  and  excellency 
of  Christ,  to  receive  dominion  over  kings,  to  be  clad  in  glory 
that  shall  make  the  brightness  of  the  firmament  to  pale.  Let 
me  make  haste  to  love  those  whom  thou  so  lovest,  to  honor 
those  whom  thou  deia-nest  so  to  honor. 


March  2G. — "If  ^Te  confess  our  sins,  he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive 
us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness." — 1  John  i.  9. 

Confession  implies  compunction.  The  mere  statement  of 
one's  fault  is  not  confession.  The  fault  may  be  aggravated  by 
a  heartless  mention  of  it.  Some  men  are  very  tenacious  of 
their  imaginary  rectitude ;  but  others  think  it  a  pretty  accom- 
plishment to  be  able  to  speak  of  themselves  as  graceless  char- 
acters. Into  the  idea  of  true  confession  humiliation  enters. 
Confession  should  be  particular.  Individual  sins  must  be  seen 
in  their  hatefulness  before  the  word  of  forgiveness  can  come 
in  between  them  and  our  conscience.  And  be  not  surprised 
If  I  add  that  forgiveness  is  particular.  It  is  both  'general  and 
particular.  "  Son,  thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee"  does  not  relieve 
the  conscience  from  the  necessity  of  afterwards  looking  at  par- 
ticular sins  forgiven,  appreciating  their  special  features  of  ug- 
liness, and  finding  relief  in  the  details  of  divine  forgiveness. 

This  shows  us  how  much  occasion  there  is  for  commerce 
with  God.  Confession,  prayer,  gratitude,  these  three  duties 
give  the  soul  an  amount  of  business  at  the  throne  of  grace 
which  it  can  never  overtake.  God  in  his  overflowing  gracious- 
ness  does  not  make  us  wait  for  a  pretext  to  come  to  him ;  he 
does  not  suffer  us  to  find  any  pretext  for  ever  absenting  our- 
selves from  hira, 
9  * 


lOi^  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

There  can  be  no  true  confession  of  sin  without  the  contem- 
plation of  Christ  crucified.  For,  an  appreciation  of  sin  is 
necessary  to  adequate  confession,  and  this  is  not  obtained  save 
at  the  cross.  If  a  man  has  taken  from  3'ou  a  thousand  pounds, 
and  says,  "  Forgive  me  for  having  purloined  a  handful  of  sil- 
ver from  you;"  or  if  he  struck  your  child  so  that  he  died, 
and  says,  "  Forgive  me  for  the  injury  I  did  j^our  child;"  such 
confession  will  not  suffice.  He  must  first  see  his  own  deed 
aright.  And  it  is  utterly  impossible  that  any  sin  should  be 
seen  in  its  proper  flagrancy,  until  the  Lamb  of  God  is  seen  to 
have  been  slain  for  it. 

Confession,  forgiveness,  purity,  these  three  things  stand  in 
indubitable  connection  in  the  history  of  a  saved  soul. 

It  is  a  pity  to  quit  this  text,  having  only  skimmed  it.  What 
does  the  apostle  mean,  dear  reader,  by  the  words  "  faithful  and 
just?"  Understand  this,  and  you  will  be  an  Elijah,  a  Daniel, 
a  Moses. 


March  27. — "  Beloved,  if  God  so  loA-ed  us,  we  ought  also  to  love  one 
another." — 1  John  iv.  11. 

Two  sublime  arguments  here  present  themselves.  The  first 
is  this :  Grod  hath  so  loved  me ;  therefore,  beloved,  I  must 
love  you.  The  second  is  :  God  hath  so  loved  i/ou ;  therefore, 
beloved,  I  must  love  you. 

By  virtue  of  the  first  argument,  every  expression  of  the 
love  of  God  toward  me  that  I  have  ever  received,  lays  aside 
its  smile,  and  assuming  a  beautiful  air  of  authority,  commands 
me  to  love  you.  All  the  promises  that  ever  flocked  in  laughing 
troops  or  came  singly  and  gently  to  my  soul,  though  they 
seemed  to  have  but  one  aim,  namely  to  convey  to  me  ottar  of 
heaven's  roses,  vials  of  divine  love,  all  now  acknowledge  that 
they  have  another  commission  even  to  bind  me  and  not  let  me 
go  unless  I  love  whom  they  shall  name.     Far  be  it  from  me 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  103 

to  make  any  difficulty.  Did.  I  so,  this  would  be  the  same  as 
sending  contemptuously  back  to  God  those  radiant  messengers. 
To  refuse  to  love  is  to  reproach  God  with  loving.  It  is  to 
make  all  the  promises  of  God  shrink  back  as  I  open  his  word, 
and  say  to  me,  "  Who  is  this  ?"  It  is  to  make  Christ  frown 
me  from  his  cross.  It  is  to  make  all  the  glorified  ones  say, 
"  He  will  never  walk  with  us  beside  the  river  of  the  water  of 
life."  But  I  must  walk  there;  I  must  love  you,  beloved  of 
Christ !  and  I  must  be  diligent  in  accomplishing  my  appren- 
ticeship in  this  matter. 

Through  the  virtue  of  the  second  argument,  I  find  myself 
sovereignly  attracted  to  you  by  all  the  precious  tokens  of  his 
love  that  God  hath  ever  bestowed  upon  you.  There  is  a  voice 
of  thunder,  so  authoritative,  but  of  course  not  intimidating, 
a  voice  of  gentle  thunder  in  a  single  hair  of  your  head,  for  it 
has  a  long  story  to  tell  to  my  attentive  ear,  (with  proof-texts 
from  the  gospel)  about  the  interest  of  God  in  you. 

Leaving  unwritten  a  long,  long  chapter,  come  we  to  the  mani- 
festations of  God's  amazing  love  to  you  in  connection  with 
the  regeneration  of  your  nature.  His  preparatory  goodness 
in  all  the  arrangements  by  which  you  were  kept  from  being 
carried  away  in  the  whirlwind  of  sin,  and  were  brought  under 
various  benign  influences;  his  convincing  you  of  sin;  his 
revelation  of  himself  to  you  in  Christ ;  his  minute  attention 
to  your  education  in  holiness ;  his  consolations  in  your  time  of 
trouble ;  his  chidings  in  your  day  of  error.  Let  me  consider 
these  and  love  you.  He  made  you  to  shed  tears  and  then  car- 
ried them  to  heaven  for  his  prize ;  nor  is  there  an  account 
wanting  on  high  of  your  smiles ;  while  your  prayers  are  pre- 
sented odoriferous  from  golden  vials  before  his  throne. 

All  these  matchless  indications  of  love  speak  to  me  and  say, 
"  Where  is  your  love  for  the  beloved  of  God  ?" 

If  God  so  loved  us,  we  ought  also  to  love  one  another. 


10-1  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

March  28. — '"God  is  love,  and  he  that  dwellcth  in  love,  dwelloth  in 
God,  and  God  in  him." — 1  John  iv.  16. 

Let  us  define.  But  who  can  define  ?  For  the  interpreta- 
tion of  this  word,  love^  is  the  interpretation  of  God.  It  is  easy 
to  saj  that  love  is  a  delight  in  the  happiness  of  the  loved. 
But  the  mind  will  not  rest  satisfied  with  this  definition ;  it 
again  and  again  replies,  that  the  meaning  includes  more.  Love 
cannot  be  defined,  for  it  is  itself  a  definition,  the  definition  of 
G  od ;  but  it  may  be  described  in  its  operations  and  efi"ects. 

The  love  that  God  has  towards  you,  passes  knowledge.  The 
whole  universe  is  intended  to  express  it.  When  he  reared  the 
sublime  mountains  and  clothed  the  plains  in  beauty,  he  said, 
this  is  for  my  beloved.  The  course  of  his  providence  is  com- 
missioned to  express  it.  Your  own  form  is  a  revelation  of  his 
love  to  you.  Your  endowments  are  other  utterances  of  the  same. 
His  word  and  all  the  marvels  of  redemption  are  a  token  of 
love  given  to  you  over  the  head  of  angels.  In  its  augmenting 
utterances,  the  divine  love  stops  not  with  the  cross  of  Christ. 
It  comes  tQ  the  believer  and  says,  "  Be  thy  heart  emptied  that 
I  may  dwell  therein,  and  render  thine  eyes,  thy  tongue,  thy 
hands,  thy  possessions,  thy  time,  thy  all,  expressive  of  the  love 
that  God  bears  to  thy  fellow-believer.'^  Every  believer  is  thus 
made  to  become  another  multiple  of  that  love  that  is  enthroned 
on  the  throne  of  the  universe. 

There  never  was  a  door  opened  in  heaven  so  wide  as  this 
word.  We  learn  from  it  the  mystery  of  heaven.  We  see 
what  is  the  nature  of  its  felicity. 

Sin  has  armed  all  its  host  against  love,  and  hath  given  a 
commandment  that  if  any  man  know  where  it  be,  he  may 
show  it,  that  it  may  be  taken.  Fiery  darts  fall  thick  and  fast 
about  him  that  gives  it  a  home.  The  ugliness  of  man's  na- 
ture becomes  gigantic,  and,  seizing  a  tremendous  spear,  says, 
"  Love,  if  thou  darest."  But  here,  as  elsewhere,  there  is  a 
victory  for  faith. 


^ 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  105 

To  abide  in  love  is  to  abide  in  the  tbougbts  of  God's  love, 
in  tbe  memory  and  consciousness  of  Christ's  love,  in  the  sense 
of  one's  own  unwortliiness  and  in  the  renunciation  of  self,  in 
the  rejection  of  selfish  pleasure  and  advantage,  and  the  study 
of  the  true  happiness  of  others,  in  intercession,  in  the  Holy 
Spirit,  in  the  faith  that  discerns  a  present  God  and  knows  how 
to  discover  the  relations  of  every  creature  to  God.  Especially 
is  it  to  abide  in  the  great  thought  that  Christ  tasted  death  for 
every  man,  and  that  your  life  is  to  be  an  embodiment  of  the 
gospel  for  every  creature.  And  if  you  set  about  this  heartily, 
with  entire  consecration,  it  may  please  God  to  help  you  by  a 
wonderful  device  of  his  own.     But  this  is  a  secret. 


March  29. — ""When  I  said,  my  foot  slippeth  j  thy  mercy,  0  Lord,  held 
me  up." — Psalm  xciv.  18. 

Man  walks  in  slippery  places,  saying,  there  is  no  danger. 
Yet  every  rock  has  one  declivity  that  descends,  gently  and  im- 
perceptibly at  first,  perhaps,  but  still  descends  to  tire  lake  of 
fire.  And  carefully  examined,  it  reveals  the  names  of  thou- 
sands and  thousands  who  perished  there,  all  saying,  there  is 
no  danger.  And  scarcely  is  there  an  hour  of  the  day  when, 
to  one  who  listens  attentively,  there  comes  not  the  wail  of  a 
forlorn  being  whose  feet  have  slipped,  without  any  to  hold  him 
up. 

One  of  these  rocks  is  popularity.  Another  is  an  ardent 
love  of  literature.  Another  is  a  taste  for  art;  be  it  music, 
painting,  or  some  other  art.  Another  is  a  taste  for  business. 
An  enterprising  spirit.  A  love  of  luxury.  A  passion  for 
money.  Fondness  for  society.  Venturesome  reading,  whether 
of  romances  or  of  sceptical  books.  Love  of  excitement,  fond- 
ness for  stimulants.  Evil  associations.  Talkativeness.  Im- 
.  pulsiveness.     Wit. 

These  are  slippery  rocks.     Some  of  these  have  been  crossed 


106  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

in  safety.  But  vast  numbers  liave  perished  on  tliem.  Some 
have  said,  we  will  take  heed  to  our  steps  that  we  slip  not; 
yet  did  they  slip ;  and  not  remembering  the  watchword,  they 
perished. 

Happy  are  they  who  ever  remember  that  the  best  paths  of 
this  world  are  slippery  enough,  and  keep  near  to  God  that  he 
may  recover  them  the  moment  their  feet  begin  to  slide.  These 
persons  are  found  breaking  away  now  and  again  from  their 
avocation  or  recreation,  because  they  perceive  their  foot  to  be 
sliding,  and  crying  to  Grod  are  helped  by  his  mercy.  A  child 
walking  among  slippery  rocks  cries  out  to  his  parent,  my  foot 
slippeth ;  there  is  but  a  moment  in  which  a  helping  hand  can 
reach  him;  yet  it  reaches  his,  for  his  father  is  just  there. 
And  so,  if  we  walk  carefully,  our  Father's  helping  hand  will 
be  stretched,  out  in  the  opportune  moment.  Jesus  was  nigh, 
when  Peter  cried  out,  "  Save,  Lord,  or  I  perish." 


March  30. — "Hold  that  fast  which  thou  hast,  that  no  man  take  thy 
crown." — Eevelation  iii.  11. 

Hold  fast  the  gift  which  divine  grace  hath  already  bestowed 
on  thee ;   the  loss  of  it  were  the  loss  of  thy  crown. 

This  exhortation  is  made  necessary  by  such  facts  as  these  : — 
There  is  a  tendency  in  the  mind  to  under-estimate  the  gifts 
already  in  possession,  and  to  forget  how  absolute  is  the  connec- 
tion between  present  grace  and  eventual  glory;  and  there  is 
also  a  tendency  to  depreciate  the  power  and  subtlety  of  the 
adversaries. 

Conceive  of  a  crown  that  guarantees  to  him  who  possesses 
it  life  beyond  the  reach  of  interruption,  health  that  can  never 
be  invaded,  purity  unsulliable,  wealth  universal,  dignity  arch- 
angelic,  power  unlimited,  a  vast  dominion,  the  inalienable  af- 
fections and  cordial  services  of  millions  of  holy  beings,  joy 
unspeakable  and  endless,  and  an  unrestricted  liberty  to  com- 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  lOT 

municate  tlie  most  precious  gifts.  Conceive  of  sucli  a  crown, 
conceive  of  it  in  thy  hand,  thyself  walking  amidst  the  robbers 
of  this  world,  and  thou  wilt  understand  the  necessity  of  Ar- 
gus-eyed watchfulness  and  unremitting  endeavor  in  order  to 
reach  the  gate  of  the  celestial  palace  without  loss  of  that  which 
has  been  committed  to  thee.  Perhaps  the  true  glory  of  that 
crown  is  yet  somewhat  latent ;  its  splendor  in  this  atmosphere 
of  sin  is  not  so  great  as  that  of  many  a  tinsel  crown  that  men 
wear ;  and  to  the  unanointed  eye  of  sense  there  is  nothing 
about  it  to  tell  of  the  amazing  mysteries  that  are  locked  up  in 
it.  But  has  not  thine  eye  been  anointed?  Dost  thou  not 
discern  the  sacred  signature  of  Grod  upon  it  ?  And  has  not  a 
divine  refiner  and  purifier  of  silver  given  thee  demonstration 
that  all  the  regalia  of  earth's  kings  and  emperors  could  not 
purchase  the  tiniest  jewel  that  sparkles  in  that  crown  which 
the  Lord  hath  given  thee  to  wear  in  the  day  of  his  Son's  es- 
pousals and  for  ever  more  ? 

Hold  fast  that  which  thou  hast  of  love,  faith,  patience, 
prayerfulness,  humility,  knowledge,  courage,  perseverance.  It 
may  seem  a  light  thing  to  give  way  to  an  erring  momentary 
impulse ;  but  understand  that  in  that  moment  a  bold,  unscru- 
pulous hand  was  stretched  out  to  snatch  away  thy  crown. 


March  31. — "To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of 
life,  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  paradise  of  God." — Revelation  ii.  7. 

There  is  not  only  the  one  transcendent  prize  of  everlasting 
life  held  up  to  the  assured  hope  of  every  believer ;  but  it 
would  seem  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  (out  of  his  treasury 
bringing  forth  things  new  and  old,)  holds  *out  particular  and 
altogether  wonderful  rewards  to  those  who  throw  themselves 
into  the  thick  of  the  conflict  of  life,  and  overcome  where  there 
were  peculiar  difficulties  in  the  way  of  their  overcoming.  The 
records  of  the  past  bear  their  not  unwilling  testimony  to  this. 


108  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

They  speak  of  Enoch  and  Elijah ;  of  Moses  and  Ezekiel ;  of 
Elisha  and  Daniel ;  of  Paul  and  John ;  of  Luther  and  White- 
field.  But  we  know  that  this  earth  is  to  be  the  scene  of  things 
more  glorious  than  have  yet  been  witnessed;  the  kingdoms 
of  this  world  are  to  become  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of 
his  Christ;  and  all  his  enemies,  the  last  being  death,  are  to 
be  made  the  footstool  of  the  King  of  glory.  Nor  does  it 
please  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  accomplish  the  sublime  reduc- 
tion of  all  things  to  himself,  otherwise  than  by  the  instrumen- 
tality of  his  servants ;  for  he  says  expressly,  "  The  glory  which 
thou  hast  given  me  I  have  given  them."  It  is  by  the  branches 
that  the  vine  brings  forth  fruit  and  glorifies  itself.  And  the 
universal  kingdom  which  the  Son  of  man  in  the  presence  of 
the  Ancient  of  days  is  represented  as  receiving  (Daniel  vii. 
14)  is  that  kingdom  which  (in  verses  18,  22,  and  27)  in  lan- 
gnage  most  explicit,  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  are  described 
as  taking  and  possessing  for  ever,  even  for  ever  and  ever. 

The  paradise  of  God  vanishes  from  our  view  in  the  first 
chapter  of  the  Bible,  and  returns  to  our  astonished  gaze  in  the 
last,  where  the  description  of  it  is  sul3tly  and  beautifully  inter- 
woven with  that  of  the  descending  Jerusalem.  The  tree  of 
life  was  a  tree  of  whose  fruit  had  Adam  eaten,  he  would  have 
lived  forever ;  and  lest  he  should  eat  thereof  he  was  expelled. 
What  is  the  life  that  he  was  not  allowed  to  appropriate  ?  Not 
surely  the  life  of  the  soul,  for  nothing  but  want  of  faith  could 
separate  him  from  this.  No  doubt  it  was  corporeal  immortal- 
ity. Had  he  refrained  from  eating  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  he  would  thereby  have  retained 
the  life  of  Grod  in  his  soul ;  and  the  tree  of  life  seems  to  have 
been  appointed  to 'supply  an  immortalizing  aliment  to  his  body, 
by  which  it  should  be  nourished  with  a  life  that  nothing  could 
harm,  a  life  corresponding  in  exaltedness  with  the  life  of  the 
spotless  soul.  This  tree  was  a  type  of  Christ  in  one  of  his  as- 
pects.    He  has  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light.     He 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  109 

that  overcometli  and  entereth  upon  the  full  fruition  of  spiritual 
life,  shall  eat  of  the  tree  of  life,  and  live  forever.  We  shall 
not  all  die. 


April  1. — "  That  he  might  bring  us  to  God." — 1  Peter  iii.  18. 

Take  this  text  as  your  interpreter,  and  join  yourself  to  the 
Lord  Jesus,  as  he  sets  his  face  steadfastly  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem. 
With  tears  he  gazes  on  the  city.  He  endures  the  contradic- 
tion of  many  sinners; — Pharisees,  Sadducees,  and  Herodians. 
He  partakes  of  the  passover  with  Judas.  Washes  the  feet  of 
his  disciples.  Gives  the  symbols  of  his  broken  body  and  shed 
blood  to  a  little  company  the  hope  of  the  world,  the  elect  of 
mankind,  that  were  about  to  forsake  him  and  flee.  Look  at 
these  things  under  the  surprising  light  of  this  explanation, 
that  he  might  bring  you  to  God. 

See  him  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane.  Approach  to  within 
a  stone's  throw  of  that  awful  place,  and  by  the  light  of  the  pal- 
lid moon,  notice  the  agony,  the  sweat,  as  it  were  great  drops  of 
blood,  the  face  in  the  dust,  the  frequent  cry  of  anguish  to  the 
Father.  Measure,  if  you  can,  the  frightful  depth  of  that  abyss 
into  which  the  Prince  of  life,  the  Lord  of  glory,  has  been  will- 
ing to  descend ;  and  as  you  measure,  remember  why  all  this 
was — namely,  that  he  might  bring  you  to  God.  See  this 
Lamb  of  God  led  to  the  slaughter ;  follow  him  step  by  step, 
from  tribunal  to  tribunal,  to  the  cross ;  ask  why  he  opened  not 
his  mouth  to  transfix  all  his  enemies  with  a  word ;  the  answer 
is,  that  he  might  bring  you  to  God.  Are  there  not  ten  thou- 
sand glorious  things  in  the  word  of  God,  the  true  glory  of 
which  only  comes  out  when  the  light  of  this  text  is  turned 
upon  them  ?  You  see  how  far  you  were  from  God.  Omnipo- 
tence, not  merely  omnipotence,  but  self-immolating  omnipo- 
tence, had  to  embark  in  the  enterprise  of  recovering  you  to 
God ;  while  all  the  angels  of  heaven  looked  on  with  wonder 
and  semi-incredulity. 
10 


110  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

Why  are  you  brought  to  God  ?  That  he  may  have  a  super- 
lative opportunity  of  showing  that  God  is  love,  by  raising  you 
to  the  sublimest  heights  of  purity  and  perfection. 


April  2. — ''He  giveth  power  to  the  faint." — Isaiah  xl.  29. 

The  Bible,  first  and  last,  insists  Jhat  man  shall  give  unto 
God,  all  power,  honor  and  glory^  and  distinctly  recognizes  his 
own  dependence,  ingloriousness  and  insignificance.  Some  fool- 
ishly gather  from  this  that  God  is  against  man,  and  is  jealous 
lest  he  should  attain  to  too  much  dignity.  But  the  very  word 
of  God  that  makes  such  bitter  warfare  on  the  imagined 
strength  and  goodness  of  man,  shows  us  the  Lord  of  the  uni- 
verse ready  to  bestow  his  treasures  of  strength,  wisdom  and 
righteousness  upon  these  very  defeated  and  spoiled  children  of 
earth,  with  a  bounty  that  knows  no  limit.  Man  imagines  that 
unless  he  grasp  with  an  unrelaxing  hand  his  rags  of  righteous- 
ness and  his  bruised  reed  which  he  calls  a  sceptre,  he  will  be 
utterly  and  forever  a  bankrupt.  But  he  is  now  a  bankrupt : 
his  treasures  are  counterfeit ',  his  power  is  that  of  a  disordered 
machine,  whose  wheels  revolve  for  nothing;  the  fragmentary 
thing  must  just  be  given  back  to  God.  Faint  with  his  losses, 
man  then  exclaims,  "  What  have  I  V  And  the  word  of  God 
makes  answer,  "  Thou  hast  power,  wisdom,  knowledge,  salva- 
tion, heaven."  He  giveth  power  to  the  faint.  In  him  are 
hid  for  thee  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge.  No, 
the  Bible  is  not  the  mere  spoiler  of  humanity.  It  takes  from 
us  the  dream  of  things,  that  it  may  give  angelic  realities.  It 
comes  to  give,  believing  what  it  preaches,  that  it  is  more 
blessed  to  give  than  to  receive ;  and  when  it  removes  aught 
from  man,  it  is  simply  that  it  may  make  room  for  its  gifts. 

Thou  hast  a  friend  therefore,  thou  fainting  one.  There  is 
power  for  thee.  Dost  thou  like  Esther  faint  in  thy  approaches 
to  the  king  ?     See,  he  stretches  out  the  sceptre  of  his  grace 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  Ill 

that  tliou  mayest  confidently -draw  nigli.  Dost  thou  faint  at 
the  thought  of  appropriating  the  merits  of  the  Crucified  One  ? 
Hearken,  he  speaks  to  another  atrocious  felon,  of  the  same 
deep  dye  with  thyself,  saying,  "  This  day  thou  shalt  be  with 
me  in  paradise  !''  Dost  thou  faint  under  some  vast  responsi- 
bility? Thou  hast  no  responsibility  that  is  not  also  Christ's; 
for  he  is  one  with  thee,  and  says,  "  Without  me  ye  can  do 
nothing/^  Dost  thou  faint  under  a  multitude  of  petty  re- 
sponsibilities ?  He  says,  again,  "  Without  me  ye  can  do  noth- 
ing." Dost  thou  faint  under  a  sense  of  thy  spiritual  feeble- 
ness, and  inaptitude  of  resolution  ?  Thou  dost  well  to  faint, 
and  to  let  Christ  succor  thee.  Be  faint,  and  take  the  power 
that  belongs  to  the  faint.     Let  faith  wait  upon  fainting. 


April  3. — "  He  shall  feed  his  flock  like  a  shepherd." — Isaiah  xl.  11. 

W^ho  is  this  that  spends  his  time  with  a  company  of  poor 
despised  sheep,  seeking  for  them  appropriate  pastures,  leading 
them  beside  still  waters,  defending  them  from  evil  beasts  with 
his  crook,  carrying  the  lame  ones  in  his  bosom,  studying  all  the 
peculiarities  in  the  condition  of  each ;  apparently  wrapped  up 
in  them,  with  no  wisdom,  no  power,  no  resources  save  such  as 
are  needed  for  their  welfare  ?  Why !  this  is  He  that  measured 
the  waters  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand,  meted  out  heaven  with 
his  span,  and  weighed  the  mountains  in  scales ;  who  taketh  up 
the  isles  as  a  very  little  thing;  to  whom  the  nations  are 
counted  as  less  than  nothing  and  vanity.  This  is  the  Omnipo- 
tent one  at  whose  fiat  the  universe  sprang  into  existence,  be- 
fore whose  great  white  throne  the  heaven  and  the  earth  shall 
flee  away,  and  find  no  place. 

And  who  are  the  flock  that  so  possess  his  regard  ? 

These  are  they  that  formerly  refused  to  have  a  divine  shep- 
herd, and  boasting  in  their  own  wisdom  and  power,  surrend- 
ered themselves  to  sin,  that  disguised  wolf,  and  followed  him 


112  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

to  liis  lair.  But  they  were  remembered  by  liim  whom  they 
had  scorned  and  insulted,  and  snatched  from  a  frightful  fate 
by  the  good  shepherd,  who  gave  his  life  for  them  and  took  it 
again  that  he  might  lead  them  into  ever-verdant  pastures. 

Like  a  shcj)herd.  A  shepherd  and  his  flock  constitute  a 
unity;  the  one  is  not  found  without  the  other.  The  interests 
of  the  flock  are  those  of  the  shepherd.  Their  wisdom  is  in 
him.  They  take  no  thought  for  the  morrow ;  he  taketh  it. 
They  are  not  anxious  about  nourishment  or  protection;  he 
watches  for  their  welfare.  He  knows  them ;  knows  their  need, 
their  ignorance,  their  wandering :  and  they  know  him;  know 
his  faithfulness  and  his  all-sufiOiciency. 


April  4. — "  Blessed  is  the  people  that  know  the  joj'-ful  sound." — Psalm 
Ixxxix.  15. 

Blessed  are  they  to  whom  the  gospel  is  proclaimed ;  that  is, 
a  blessing  is  put  within  their  reach.  But  especially,  essentially 
blessed  are  they  who  know  it  as  glad  tidings  of  great  joy. 

One  land  is  blessed  with  great  fruitfulness ;  another  with 
great  mineralogictil  treasures ;  another  by  its  geographical  situ- 
ation, favorable  for  commerce.  One  nation  has  a  liberal  gov- 
ernment; another  an  admirable  system  of  education.  One 
country  has  numerous  and  excjuisite  remains  of  ancient 
art;  another  has  carried  the  cultivation  of  modern  art  and 
science  to  a  high  pitch ;  while  another  has  made  the  most  mar- 
vellous strides  in  manufactures.  One  region  is  blessed  with 
magnificent  rivers;  another  glories  in  its  sublime  mountain 
ranges.  But  neither  of  these  nor  all  in  combination  suffice  to 
secure  the  happiness  of  a  people,  or  to  perpetuate  the  pros- 
perity of  a  nation.  Another  chapter  should  be  added  to  Vol- 
ney's  "  Ruins  of  Empires,"  telling  truly  why  those  empires 
passed  away.  The  gospel  has  never  yet  prevailed  in  any  nation. 
Never  yet  has  it  been  cordially  received  by  more  than  a  very  small 


DAILY    MEDITATIOXS.  113 

minority  of  the  people  of  a  country.  But  in  proportion  as  it  lias 
been  received  has  a  blessing  from  on  high  rested  on  the  nations. 
They  who  truly  know  the  joyful  sound,  will  endeavor  to 
communicate  the  knowledge  of  it  to  other  hearts  and  lands. 
Can  you  imagine  a  kind  of  music  produced  by  invisible  choris- 
ters, inaudible  to  all  save  those  who  have  been  endowed  with  a 
special  sense  for  the  perception  and  enjoyment  of  it  ?  These 
walk  in  ecstacy,  ever  and  anon,  hearing  the  wondrous  strains, 
while  the  unperceiving  multitude  pursue  the  sordid  tenor  of 
their  way.  Such  strains  are  those  of  the  Gospel,  and  they 
that  have  faith  are  they  who  have  received  a  faculty  appro- 
priate to  the  reception  of  them.  The  music  of  the  words  of 
the  Son  of  Grod  is  borne  to  them  from  the  golden  harps  of  the 
invisible  ones  They  open  the  word  of  God,  and  while  their 
unadept  companion  sees  a  dull,  ineloquent  page,  the  eye  of  the 
believer  pierces  the  cloud-like  door  of  the  letter  and  detects  a  vista 
reaching  to  the  New  Jerusalem,  with  angels  moving  to  and 
fro ;  exquisite  melodies  are  wafted  to  his  ear,  and  he  rejoices 
with  joy  unspeakable,  tasting  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come. 


April  5. — ''  They  that  wait  upon  the  Lord  shall  renew  their  strength." 
—Isaiah  xl.  31. 

It  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  saddest  facts  in  our  condition, 
that  the  objects  which  interest  and  attract  us,  have  no  power 
to  perpetuate  their  own  attractiveness ;  and  the  mind  obtain- 
ing what  it  passionately  sought,  and  by  degrees  getting  accus- 
tomed to  its  particular  features  of  beauty,  loses  day  by  day 
something  of  its  own  delight  in  them.  Fascination  can  get  no 
victory  that  is  not  stolen  from  it  again  by  time.  And  this  is 
said  to  be  an  mevitahle,  Nemesis-like  fact  in  our  finite  con- 
dition. Transport  must  give  way  to  an  inferior  sentiment. 
Well  for  us,  it  is  said,  if,  by  a  judicious  and  well-timed  mode- 
ration of  our  desires,  we  sink  into  contentment  and  are  satis- 
10  ^- 


114  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

fied  witli  tliat  condition  of  tlie  soul,  while  tlie  extravagancy  of 
our  former  admiration  sails  awdj,  like  a  painted  bubble,  to  the 
skies. 

We  do  not  believe  that  this  is  a  divinely-appointed  element 
in  our  condition.  An  enemy  hath  done  this.  He  wishes  us 
to  be  as  gods,  and  to  lead  a  life  of  independence,  and  this  is  the 
paradise  into  which  he  brought  us  out  of  Eden.  While  we 
are  swayed  by  him,  while  sin  mingles  so  largely  with  the  fabric 
of  our  earthly  condition,  while  we  are  without  Grod  in  the 
world,  and  seek  the  things  of  the  world  without  reference  to 
their  connection  with  God,  it  is  undoubtedly  so.  Beauty  van- 
ishes, and  excellence  by  familiarity  loses  its  power  to  captivate. 
We  are  taken  up  by  hope  into  some  cloud  heaven,  and  have 
the  choice  perhaps  of  descending  abruptly  and  disastrously,  or 
of  gliding  down  to  earth  by  an  imperceptible  declivity. 

Is  there  no  remedy?  Must  the  imaginative,  esthetic,  aspir- 
ing portion  of  our  nature  hasten  to  shrivel  up,  and  leave  us  to 
sober  hopes,  disciplined  desires,  and  dwarfed  expectations  ?  Not 
so.  What  we  need  is  an  object  whose  excellence  is  ever  fed, 
ever  augmented  by  supplies  from  an  infinite  source ;  whose  per- 
fections seen  are  only  introductory  to  other  perfections  to  be 
seen ;  in  the  contemplation  of  whom  our  admiration  can  never 
overtake  the  limit  of  the  admirable,  for  there  is  no  limit.  We 
need  a  divine  object;  and  having  this,  we  need  not  fear  to 
cry,  "  excelsior !"  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with 
all  thy  heart,  and  soul,  and  mind,  is  the  first  and  great  com- 
mandment. Delight  thyself  in  the  Lord,  and  he  shall  grant 
thee  the  desires  of  thy  heart.  They  that  wait  upon  the  Lord 
shall  renew  their  strength ;  they  shall  mount  up  with  wings  as 
eagles. 


April  6.—''  Fight  the  good  fight  of  faith."—!  Timothy  vi.  12. 
There  is  a  fight  that  is  good ;  a  warfare  that  is  eminently 
laudable.     It  is  lamentable  to  see  how  easily  men  err  in  decid- 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  115 

mg  what  is  worthy,  what  is  not  worthy  to  enlist  their  noblest 
energies.  A  question  of  unspeakable  importance ; — for  what 
boots  it  that  you  undergo  hardships,  surmount  difficulties,  make 
the  most  incredible  sacrifices,  exhibit  the  most  brilliant  valor, 
or  the  most  consummate  skill,  if  the  cause  in  which  you  have 
embarked  be  one  not  worthy  of  your  energies  and  sufferings  ? 
The  same  action  is  sublime  when  performed  in  its  appropriate 
path,  and  insignificant  when  thrown  away  upon  an  inadequate 
cause.  The  tales  of  human  heroism  too  often  merely  bid  us 
come  and  see  how  wonderfully  man  is  endowed,  and  how  un- 
worthily he  throws  away  those  endowments. 

What  is  that  conflict  of  which  we  can  say  that  from  what- 
ever point  of  view  it  is  contemplated,  it  manifests  itself  to  be 
beyond  impeachment,  good  ?  The  annals  of  mankind  reveal 
to  us  but  one,  the  conflict  of  faith. 

A  life  of  faith  is  a  life  of  victorious  warfare.  The  unbe- 
lievers around  us  are  all  led  captive.  They  have  no  weapons 
for  this  fight,  and  no  heart  for  it;  they  wear  the  badges  of 
servitude,  without  shame  or  reluctance.  We  hear  them  say, 
"Our  business  hath  paramount  claims  upon  us;"  "There  is 
time  in  the  future  for  religion ;"  "  Heaven  cannot  be  under- 
stood on  earth  f  "  We  must  enjoy  ourselves  while  it  is  day, 
for  the  night  cometh;"  "What  harm  is  there  in  going  to 
scenes  of  festivity?"  "It  is  enough  that  a  man  be  sincere;'' 
"  There  are  strange  things  in  the  Bible ;"  "  It  was  once  per- 
haps suited  to  the  condition  of  men." — These  and  a  thousand 
corresponding  expressions  drop  from  their  lips  and  tell  us  too 
plainly,  alas !  that  these  poor  persons  have  been  smitten  down 
by  the  bludgeon  of  the  adversary,  carried  off  to  be  his  helpless 
slaves,  and  taught  the  language  of  his  realm. 

As  we  look  over  the  map  of  the  world,  innumerable  places 
claim  our  notice  as  the  scene  of  celebrated  battles.  And  as 
we  look  over  the  pages  of  Scripture  we  find  these  thickly  dot- 
ted with  the  indications  of  great  spiritual  battles  fought  there. 


IIG  DAILY    .MEDITATIONS. 

We  liglit  upon  the  \Yord,  '•  One  thing  is  needful;"  and  to  our 
mind's  eye  two  hosts  present  themselves,  one  inferior  in  num- 
ber to  the  other;  one  fighting  the  good  fight  of  faith  and 
coming  off  victorious ;  the  other  sustaining  a  shameful  defeat. 
"  They  that  fear  the  Lord  shall  not  want  any  good  thing/'  is  a 
citadel  into  which  few  have  succeeded  in  entering ;  the  whole 
plain  around  is  strewed  with  the  unbelieving  dead.  "  Ask, 
and  it  shall  be  given  you,"  is  surrounded  by  a  trench,  which 
tens  of  thousands  have  attempted  to  pass,  but  have  not  been 
able.  But  we  see  the  flag  of  faith  waving  from  its  topmost 
battlement.  "  Ye  shall  not  enter,"  said  the  world,  deploying 
its  legions;  "but  this  (we  reply)  is  the  victory  which  over- 
cometh  the  world,  even  our  faith." 


April  7. — "  When  the  enemy  shall  come  in  like  a  flood,  the  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  shall  lift  up  a  standard  against  him." — Isaiah  lix.  19. 

The  position  of  the  church  in  the  world  is  like  that  of  the 
low  countries.  Its  ground  is  all  recovered  ground;  dykes 
compass  it  about ;  and  against  these  the  mighty  ocean  mutters, 
dashes,  rages,  as  its  mood  may  be.  The  law  of  all  waters  is 
opposed  to  its  existence;  Pacifies,  Atlantics  and  Antarctics, 
seem  ever  to  be  uttering  a  protest  against  it.  Anon,  they,  or 
their  representative  waters,  arise  in  strength  and  precipitate 
themselves  upon  it.  A  flood  is  always  ready  for  the  Church ; 
at  every  moment  she  is  threatened  with  a  deluge  that  shall 
sweep  her  away.  Yet  she  unaccountably  continues  to  exist. 
She  has  no  visible  strength ;  no  appreciable  resources ;  and  the 
enemy  is  at  a  loss  to  understand  how  she  is  enabled  to  keep 
her  footing  thus  from  generation  to  generation. 

When  the  enemies  of  Judea  invaded  and  overran  that  land 
in  the  early  days  of  its  history,  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  raise  up 
by  the  mighty  operation  of  his  Spirit  some  bold  deliverer, 
around  whose  banner  the  people  rallied,  and  by  whose  wisdom, 


DAILY    MEDIIATIOXS.  117 

courage  and  faith,  the  land  was  freed  from  the  hostile  flood. 
So  also  are  great  periods  of  jeopardy  and  deliverance  found  in 
the  history  of  the  Christian  Church.  In  these  latter  times 
the  enemy  has  come  into  the  Church  like  a  silent  and  peace- 
able flood,  intending  no  harm ;  and  has  crept  very  gently  into 
the  valleys  and  stolen  imperceptibly  up  the  glens,  and  spread  it- 
self by  amiable  and  conciliatory  advances  over  the  plains  of  the 
Church's  territory ;  assuming  to  enrich  and  to  bless,  but  really 
involving  all  in  one  dead  glassy  mantle  of  brine.  The  Church 
is  led  to  believe  that  she  has  no  enemies ;  it  is  announced  that 
there  are  scarcely  any  assaults  made  upon  the  dykes ;  but  the 
fact  is  that  the  enemy  is  within,  and  has  undertaken  to  consti- 
tute itself  the  Church. 

How  many  and  how  diversified  have  been,  of  late,  the  doc- 
trines inculcated  in  hostility  to  the  fundamental  principles  of 
Christianity,  by  persons  holding  positions  in  the  Church,  and 
using  the  most  approved  language  of  piety.  How  complete  is 
the  evidence  that  avarice,  the  idolatry  of  this  age,  is  difi'used 
through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  Church.  How  quietly 
have  we  settled  down  into  the  idea  that  the  standard  of  con- 
duct given  to  the  primitive  disciples,  and  in  each  gospel  em- 
balmed in  the  undying  words  of  Christ,  is  not  a  standard  with 
which  we  have  anything  practically  to  do.  How  much  is  it 
considered  a  matter  of  course  that  the  unlimited  promises  of 
the  New  Testament  should  be  treated  as  curiosities  of  litera- 
ture, and  not  at  all  as  the  appropriate  means  designated  by 
God  for  perpetuating  in  the  Church,  Elijahs,  Daniels  and 
Pauls. 

And  the  greatest  evil  is  that  all  our  conceptions  being  cast 
in  the  mould  of  a  vitiated  standard,  we  remain  without  the 
power  of  perceiving  how  much  our  standard  is  vitiated.  If 
the  salt  have  lost  its  savor,  wherewith  shall  it  be  salted  ?  Our 
hope  is  with  him  who  hath  promised  to  lift  up  a  standard  in 
the  critical  hour,  and  who  will  lift  up  on  some  conspicuous  and 


118  DAILY    MEDITATIOXS. 

inviolable  summit,  wliitlier  the  people  may  flee  from  the  rising 
deluge  of  iniquity,  and  find  themselves  safe  beneath  the  banner 
of  Grod.  If  foremost  men  are  needed,  it  is  easy  for  the  great 
Head  of  the  Church  to  raise  them  up.  If  the  hearts  of 
princes  are  in  his  hand  to  turn  them  as  he  will,  how  much 
more  the  hearts  of  those  who  are  avowedly  his  own.  He  will 
revive  his  work.  In  the  midst  of  wrath  he  will  remember 
mercy. 

April  8. — "  Blessed  is  the  man  that  trusteth  in  the  Lord." — Jeremiah 
xvii.  7. 

We  should  greatly  err  if  we  understood  this  word  "  blessed'^ 
as  teaching  that  the  man  who  trusteth  in  God  will  pursue  a 
path  of  tranquil  enjoyment  and  exemption  from  sorrow.  He 
is  blessed  because  he  is  enabled  to  pursue  the  path,  the  only 
path,  that  leadeth  unto  everlasting  life.  Because  the  favor  of 
God  is  his.  Because  Christ  forsaketh  him  never.  Because 
the  Spirit  of  God  dwells  in  him.  Because  he  has  grace  to 
seek  the  welfare  of  his  fellow-men.  And  he  is  blessed  because 
of  the  peculiar  nature  of  his  sufl'erings.  His  tears  are  not  as 
others'  tears.  His  agony  is  not  the  agony  of  impious  men. 
His  despair  even  has  a  dignity  and  sacredness  about  it. 

Jeremiah  was  a  man  that  trusted  in  God.  But  it  is  evident 
from  the  sublime  bursts  of  misery  occurring  in  his  prophecies, 
that  he  was  permitted  to  sound  the  depths  of  human  woe.  It 
was  his  faith  in  God  that  separated  him  from  all  his  country- 
men, deprived  him  of  their  sympathies,  made  him  a  stranger 
to  their  joys,  and  compelled  him  to  drink  the  cup  of  sorrow 
which  they  should  have  drunk.  He  trusted  in  God,  and 
therefore  he  could  not  hide  from  them  that  God  was  about  to 
pour  upon  them  the  vials  of  destruction,  and  to  surrender  them 
into  the  hands  of  a  heathen  king.  They  listened  with  amaze- 
ment to  words  that  seemed  to  them  nothing  less  than  blas- 
phemy, and  denounced  him  as  the  enemy  of  his  country,  a 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  119 

traitor  to  the  hallowed  and  God-defended  interests  of  Judea. 
When,  in  the  freshness  of  youth,  he  received  his  prophet\pal 
commission  from  the  Lord,  it  was  distinctly  intimated  to  him 
that  "  all  should  fight  against  him,"  the  kings,  the  priests,  the 
people,  the  bad  and  the  good,  not  excepting  even  the  God- 
fearing and  devout.  He  was  a  man  ever  spoken  against ;  and 
those  that  could  agree  upon  no  other  topic,  cordially  harmon- 
ized upon  the  one  subject  of  the  baseness  and  treachery  of 
Jeremiah.  Other  reputed  prophets  might  be  true  or  might  be 
false ;  but  that  Jeremiah  was  a  false  prophet  was  something 
not  to  be  questioned.  And  it  did  not  please  the  Lord  to 
give  unto  his  servant  that  stern  indifference  that  would  have 
lifted  him  above  the  reach  of  these  cruel  shafts.  No,  he  left 
him  to  the  native  sensitiveness  and  keen  susceptibility  to  in- 
jury that  characterized  him.  His  was  a  nature  of  exquisite 
poetic  sensibility  -,  and  many  a  piercing  cry  of  anguish  escapes 
him  as  he  meets,  remembers  and  broods  upon  the  opprobrious 
looks  and  words  addressed  to  him.  At  times  he  loathes  his 
very  existence,  and  abhors  the  day  that  gave  him  birth. 
"  Woe  is  me,  my  mother,  that  thou  hast  borne  me  a  man  of 
strife  and  a  man  of  contention  to  the  whole  earth."   • 

Is  our  faith  in  the  goodness  of  God  staggered  by  the  dis- 
covery of  what  he  permitted  this  his  chosen  servant  to  suffer  ? 
Are  we  at  a  loss  how  to  reconcile  this  inexorable  rigor,  with 
the  many  declarations  of  the  divine  pitifulness  ?  Or,  on  the 
other  hand,  do  we  decide  that  the  prophet's  faith  must  have 
failed  him  in  those  hours  of  bitterness,  and  that  a  deeper- 
reaching  glance  into  the  future  would  have  saved  his  suscepti- 
ble soul  those  fearful  shocks?  No,  faith  has  no  alliance  with 
stoicism.  It  does  not  make  us  ignore  present  things.  Faith 
goes  beyond  sense  and  shows  us  actualities  that  cannot  other- 
wise be  discerned ;  but  it  does  not  set  aside  sense,  or  separate 
our  soul  from  the  body  that  is  in  the  world. — And  what  be- 
comes of  the  divine  compassion  ?     Why,  Jeremiah  the  sufferer, 


120  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

himself  bears  unequivocal  testimony  to  the  goodness  of  God. 
It  is  he  that  teaches  us  to  say,  "  Blessed  is  the  man  that  trust- 
eth  in  thee." 

At  long  intervals  Grod  calls  a  Job,  a  Jeremiah  to  the  expe- 
rience of  their  aggravated  sorrows:  but  he  supports  them; 
and  their  triumphant  faith  animates  the  drooping  faith  of 
thousands  who  are  called  to  tread  inferior  paths  of  sorrow. 
Honor  to  Jeremiah,  who  notwithstanding  all  his  excruciation 
of  soul,  hath  left  us  this  testimony,  "  Blessed  is  the  man  that 
trusteth  in  thee  !"  What  believer  will  refuse  to  take  up  the 
refrain  ? 


April  9. — ''Ileal  me,  0  Lord,  and  I  shall  be  healed." — Jeremiah 
xvii.  14. 

For  the  devices  of  man  only  increase  my  malady.  The  ut- 
most they  can  do  is  to  conceal  a  plague-spot  here  and  a  plague- 
spot  there ;  but  concealment  is  not  abatement.  What  is  my 
pride  the  better  for  all  their  prescriptions  ?  What  have  they 
done  for  my  self-will  ?  For  my  unbelief,  slothfulness,  irrita- 
bility, prayerlessness,  impulsiveness  ?  I  come  to  thee,  0  Lord. 
He  that  created  me,  and  whose  creation  I  have  spent  my  days 
in  marring,  can  alone  restore  to  me  his  image,  and  make  me 
to  walk  in  the  health  of  heaven.  Heal  my  heart,  my  under- 
standing, my  memory,  my  desires,  my  imagination,  my  hopes, 
my  fears,  my  body,  my  speech,  my  looks,  my  acts.  I  am  in  a 
condition  that  renders  me  the  prey  of  suffering  in  every  form. 
All  my  faculties  torment  me.  My  words  come  back  upon  me, 
and  pierce  me  like  daggers.  My  memory  is  continually  fetch- 
ing some  coal  of  fire  to  me.  My  desires  carry  me  into  paths 
where  venomous  serpents  lie  in  wait.  My  imagination  still 
beguiles  me  with  the  idea  that  it  is  my  royal  friend,  and  taking 
me  by  the  hand  to  lead  me  to  some  canopied  and  luxurious 
seat,  presently  lets  it  go  and  with  derision  sees  me  sink  into 
some  black  abyss.     Hope  sits  enthroned  as  it  were  a  delegated 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  121 

angel;  but  a  life-long  and  frightful  experience  leaves  me  un- 
able  to  doubt  the  fact  that  a  legion  of  tormenting  spirits  are 
the  ministers  of  this  still-smiling  enemy.  Many  endowments 
of  my  nature — which,  were  I  not  a  moral  wreck,  a  spiritual 
leper,  would  have  each  of  them  with  its  own  particular  key 
given  me  the  freedom  of  a  heaven  all  its  own — in  this  my 
corrupt  condition  show  themselves  each  provided  with  a  key 
to  a  place  of  torment  all  its  own.  So  that  the  properties  which 
seemed  to  have  most  of  glory  and  of  paradise  still  hanging 
about  them,  and  which  therefore  inspired  me  with  the  most 
un  doubting  reliance,  are  the  very  properties  which  have  most 
excoriated  my  soul  and  aggravated  my  malady.  But  heal  thou 
me  and  I  shall  be  healed.  Release  me  from  my  own  perverted 
will,  my  rash  desires,  my  reckless  imagination.  If  thou  wilt 
thou  canst,  and  there  is  evidence  of  thy  willingness. 


April  10. — "Thou  hast  destroyed  thyself;  but  in  me  is  thy  help." — 
Hosea  xiii.  9. 

God  hath  said,  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill,"  But  thou  hast  done 
more  than  this.  Imagine  thyself  in  the  presence  of  some 
pure  and  spotless  inhabitant  of  heaven,  clad  in  perfections 
that  enable  him  to '  smile  at  any  difficulty  however  gigantic, 
and  resplendent  with  the  glory  of  God.  Imagine  thyself  as- 
sailing him  in  his  purity,  wisdom,  love,  power,  and  glory ;  and 
stripping  him  of  all  his  perfections  one  after  another,  and 
finally  precipitating  him  to  earth,  a  poor  depraved  sensual 
rebel.  Cease  now  to  imagine;  and  recognize  the  stern  reality 
of  this  description.  Thou  hast  done  it ;  thou  hast  wrought 
this  destruction ;  and  upon  whom  *  Upon  thyself  Thou  hast 
destroyed  thyself  But  for  thy  sin,  thou  wouldst  have  been 
that  bright  celestial  being. 

Raise  thyself  now  anew  to  that  pitch  of  purity  and  excel- 
lence. Regain  paradise.  Reinstate  thyself  among  those  who 
11 


122  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

walk  in  the  light  of  the  enthroned  Creator.  Get  thyself  en- 
veloped with  an  atmosphere  that  knows  no  taint  of  sin.  Cast 
all  thy  sins  into  a  bottomless  abyss,  and  roll  an  everlasting 
stone  upon  them ;  and  decorate  thyself  with  the  virtues  of 
Gabriel,  the  seraphic  energies  of  Raphael !  Thou  canst  not 
do  it ;  the  very  thought  savors  of  madness.  But  it  may  be 
done.  From  heaven  thou  didst  bring  down  in  frightful  ruin 
one  of  God's  noblest  works.  The  Son  of  God  has  come  to 
earth  for  the  purpose  of  redeeming  this  ruined  humanity,  and 
raising  it  to  a  higher,  safer,  more  blessed  pitch  of  dignity  than 
that  from  which  it  fell.     "  In  me  is  thy  help,"  saith  the  Lord. 


April  11. — "  The  Lord  is  good  unto  them  that  wait  for  him." — Lamen- 
tations iii.  25. 

This  modest  text  is  supported  by  a  bolder  and  more  eloquent 
one  in  Isaiah.  "  Men  have  not  heard,  nor  perceived  by  the 
ear,  neither  hath  the  eye  seen,  0  God,  beside  thee,  what  he 
hath  prepared  for  him  that  waiteth  for  him."*  Those  that 
waited  for  the  Messiah,  and  at  length  beheld  him,  found  the 
promise  of  these  texts  verified  in  their  experience. 

But  we  have  not  in  this  dispensation  bid  farewell  to  the  at- 
titude of  waiting.  The  great  and  precious  things  bestowed 
upon  us,  do  not  hinder  our  aspirations  after  more  transcending 
things  to  come.  Faith  wrestles.  Faith  also  waits.  Some 
have  faith  to  wrestle ;  but  not  to  wait. 

This  waiting  implies  an  unconquerable  conviction  that  the 
manifestations  of  goodness  which  we  have  asked  of  God,  he 
will  grant  in  some  more  fitting  time  than  the  present,  and  after 
full  proof  of  our  faith.  It  is  immensely  difiicult  for  faith  to 
endure,  if  the  season  be  protracted.  For  day  after  day  comes 
and  goes,  saying,  as  it  goes,  "  You  see  the  folly  of  your  ex- 
pectation. God  has  denied  your  request  for  some  sufficient 
reason.  Your  expectation  is  vain."  The  providence  of  God 
*  Isaiah  Ixiv.  4. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  123 

seems  to  use  similar  language,  declaring  with  a  thousand 
voices,  that  your  faith  is  erroneous  and  vain.  By  the  law  of 
your  nature  you  pass  through  multitudinous  moods  whose  dif- 
ferences of  light  and  shade  make  things  look  very  differently, 
and  if  faith  pass  serenely  through  them  all,  it  is  a  wonder  of 
wonders.  But  the  exercise  of  faith  tends  also  to  perfect  it ; 
and  the  repeated,  deliberate,  prayerful,  re-examination  of  the 
foundation  laid  for  your  future  edifice,  leaves  at  length  the  soul 
as  firmly  persuaded  of  the  expected,  as  it  is  of  the  present. 
Nor  while  it  seeks  the  future  is  it  impatient  with  the  present, 
but  cheerfully  intelligent  of  whatever  there  is  of  good  around. 


April  12. — "The  Lord  is  my  portion,  saith  my  soul." — Lam,  iii.  24. 

Poor  man,  says  the  world.  But  no,  says  the  believer;  he  is 
to  be  pitied  who  boasts  of  any  other  portion  than  this.  If  the 
Lord  be  not  thy  portion,  will  any  portion  that  thou  hast  con- 
tinue ?  Let  it  be  power  like  that  of  Napoleon,  wisdom  like 
that  of  Socrates;  fame  like  that  of  Bacon,  imagination  like 
that  of  Scott,  wealth  like  that  of  the  Bourbons;  let  it  be 
beauty,  or  valor,  or  wit,  or  industry ;  let  it  be  troops  of  friends, 
or  one  most  loving  heart;  let  it  be  what  it  may,  it  is  a  con- 
temptible portion,  if  it  be  thine  all. 

He  that  becomes  a  follower  of  Christ,  declares  that  the  Lord 
is  his  portion.  He  counts  all  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the 
knowledge  of  him.  And  not  onl}^  does  his  soul  say  it ;  his 
life,  his  daily  life,  must  say  it ;  must  testify  that  he  has  for- 
saken all  for  Christ.  How  singular  that,  after  all  the  glimpses 
of  his  boundless  wealth,  and  power,  and  majesty,  granted  by 
Christ  to  the  sons  of  men  when  on  the  earth,  he  should  find  so 
few  willing  to  take  up  with  him  for  a  portion.  It  was  the 
merest  trifle  for  him  to  spread  a  table  for  five  thousand  men, 
besides  women  and  children ;  with  but  a  word  he  loaded  seve- 
ral boats  full  of  large  fishes ;  he  raised  the  dead ;  all  power  in 


124  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

heaven  and  in  earth  was  manifestly  his.  We  see  plainly  that 
all  other  portions  must  at  last  revert  to  him,  and  he  will  give 
them  to  whom  he  will.  But  independently  of  all  material 
gifts,  there  is  that  in  his  character  which  makes  him,  him 
alone,  able  to  satisfy  the  soul  throughout  eternity. 


April  13. — "  Then  shall  we  know,  if  we  follow  on  to  know  the  Lord." — 
Ilosea  vi.  2. 

Is  it  at  all  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  the  contemplation 
of  God  will  yield  us  greater^  more  precious  results  than  the 
consideration  of  anything  or  of  everything  in  this  world  that 
he  has  made  ?  You  are  wrapt  up  in  the  study  of  mineralogy, 
or  botany,  or  conchology;  and  have  no  time  to  spare  for  the 
cultivation  of  your  acquaintance  with  God.  The  sight  of  a 
little  shell  has  wonderful  power  to  awaken  all  your  faculties : 
and  you  have  no  rest  till  you  have  ascertained  its  characteris- 
tics, traced  and  counted  the  lines  upon  it,  and  determined  its 
specific  relations ;  but  an  invitation  to  come  and  contemplate 
God  leaves  you  listless  and  apathetic.  You  delight  in  archaeo- 
logical researches,  and  with  your  whole  soul  embark  in  the 
study  of  certain  antiquities,  -with  a  view  to  determine  at  what 
period,  and  by  whom  they  were  produced ;  yet  are  you  never 
for  a  moment  tormented  by  the  desire  to  increase  your  know- 
ledge of  God.  You,  my  friend,  have  a  great  dread  of  being 
found  imperfectly  acquainted  with  a  certain  literature,  and 
think  nothing  of  devoting  whole  nights  to  the  acquisition  of 
it ;  but  your  conscience  is  visited  by  no  painful  sense  of  your 
defective  knowledge  of  him  from  whom  is  every  good  gift. 

Once  we  too  were  thus.  If  a  man  had  anything  curious  to 
tell  us  concerning  the  most  distant  star  that  twinkles  in  the 
firmament,  we  waited  for  his  words  with  eagerness;  but  no 
solicitude  to  improve  our  acquaintance  with  the  Divine  Dis- 
poser of  all,  ever  agitated  our  soul. 


DAILY    MEDITATIOXS.  125 

But  now  we  grasp  at  this  assurance :  "Then  shall  we  know;" 
and  at  the  similar  asseveration  of  Paul :  "  Then  shall  I  know, 
even  as  also  I  am  known."  And  the  joy  with  which  we  hail 
this  prospect  is  a  clear  evidence  that  we  have  passed  out  of  the 
region  of  our  former  ignorance,  and  that  we  know  God.  In- 
difference and  ignorance  are  here  indissolubly  linked,  as  also 
are  knowledge  and  thirst  for  knowledge. 

Then  shall  we  know,  if  we  follow  on  to  knoio  the  Lord.  The 
Lord  has  brought  us  into  the  pathway  of  the  knowledge  of 
him,  and  bids  us  pursue  that  path  through  all  its  strange  nie- 
anderings  until  it  opens  out  upon  the  plain  where  God's  throne 
is.  Our  life  is  a  following  on  to  know  the  Lord.  We  marvel 
at  some  of  the  experiences  through  which  we  are  called  to 
pass :  but  afterwards  we  see  that  they  afforded  us  some  new 
knowledge  of  our  Lord.  Our  path  suddenly  disappeared  in 
some  hideous  cavern  where  we  seemed  to  hear  the  roaring  of 
wild  beasts ;  and  we  could  not  at  all  connive  what  benefit 
would  result  from  our  entering ;  but  we  entered ;  and  when 
by  a  favoring  passage  we  emerged  from  that  obscurity  and 
danger,  we  felt  that  we  had  obtained  some  new  and  valuable 
insight  into  the  divine  character.  Again,  our  path  shot  right 
down  into  the  impenetrable  darkness  of  some  deep  pit  ]  it  was 
some  time  before  our  eyes  got  accustomed  to  that  darkness ; 
then  we  discovered  a  little  door,  and  soon  found  ourselves  in  a 
gallery  of  hidden  treasures,  several  of  which  we  gathered  and 
still  retain.  Pursuing  thus  the  knowledge  of  God  we  found 
ourselves  like  Joseph  in  Egypt,  alone  in  the  midst  of  a  nation 
that  knew  not  God ;  and  found  that  there  was  something  here 
to  be  learned  concerning  the  divine  perfections  that  could  not 
elsewhere  be  learned.*  We  have  not  then  to  wait  for  some 
future  brighter  opportunity ;  but  by  improvement  of  the  pres- 
ent are  to  build  for  ourselves  a  bridge  to  that  future. 

*  Referring  to  India,  Avhere  these  Meditations  were  written. — A. 
11  * 


126  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

April  14. — "When  I  sit  in  darkness,  the  Lord  shall  be  a  light  unto 
me." — Micah  vii.  8. 

He  will,  tliou  propliet  of  the  living  God  !  More  happy  art 
thou  in  this  thy  strong  and  well-warranted  persuasion  than  if 
a  tiara  of  the  most  effulgent  diamonds  were  set  upon  thy  brow, 
to  light  up  the  chamber  of  thy  darkness.  Didst  thou  always 
know  this  ?  Couldst  thou  from  the  beginning  look  thus  se- 
renely along  the  paths  of  life,  conscious  that  betide  whatever 
might,  thou  shouldst  enjoy  the  manifested  presence  of  thy 
God? 

Perhaps  not.  Perhaps  there  was  a  period  in  thy  life  when 
thou  hadst  indeed  a  strong  conviction  of  the  incomparable  de- 
sirableness of  such  an  assurance,  and  hadst  a  belief  in  its  at- 
tainableness,  but  couldst  not  possess  thyself  of  the  privilege. 
Y/ithont  this  distinct  perception  of  a  present  God,  thy  Saviour, 
Friend,  and  Guide,  life  seemed  an  odious  blank.  For  this  thou 
wert  willing  to  sacrifice  all  things,  and  deem  thyself  an  infinite 
gainer  by  the  exchange.  But  how  enter  this  hidden  life  ?  By 
faith,  was  the  answer.  But  how  believe  ?  Oh  how  immense 
this  difl[iculty  seemed  to  one  accustomed  to  the  death-state  of 
the  soul,  to  unbelief,  to  the  insane  vision  that  perceives  every- 
thing save  Him  by  whom  all  things  subsist.  But  he  that  had 
given  thee  so  much  faith  as  to  perceive  the  all-surpassing  bless- 
edness of  a  life  in  which  God  is  throughout  consciously  inter- 
mingled, forsook  thee  not ;  and  soon  enabled  thee  to  open  wide 
the  eye  of  faith,  and  behold  Him  gloriously  nigh,  overpower- 
ingly  manifest ;  enabled  thee  to  take  into  thy  very  soul  his 
indestructible  promise  to  abide  with  thee  as  thy  Helper,  Lover, 
and  Satisfier,  for  ever. 

When  God  gives  faith,  he  gives  the  opportunity  of  proving 
it.  He  loves  the  sweet  expression  of  it  in  confidential  words  -, 
loves  still  better  the  exhibition  of  it  in  indubitable  acts. 
'•  Thou  shalt  sit  in  darkness,"  he  says  to  his  trusting  servant. 
But  first  he   leads  the  believer  along  some  flowery  walk,  and 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  127 

accustoms  him  to  a  liigli  measure  of  spiritual  prosperity. 
Then  suddenly  an  unexpected  tempest  gathers  about  him,  and 
he  finds  himself  in  deepest,  strangest  night.  Darkness  is 
come ;  but  it  is  difierent  in  some  of  its  elements  from  what  the 
believer  had  contemplated  in  the  day  of  his  declared  faith. 
Yes,  designedly  diiferent.  It  was  needful  that  his  darkness 
should  be  something  never  anticipated,  in  order  that  his  faith 
might  have  its  full  proof.  The  darkness  seems  to  say,  "  God 
is  not  in  me,  I  am  sent  in  wrath.  Thy  faith  is  presumption. 
I  am  come  to  banish  from  thee  the  promises  which  thou  hast 
hitherto  delighted  in — to  dispel  the  delusive  idea  of  Glod  thy 
Comforter.  Despair  is  the  only  thing  that  harmonizes  with 
me."  The  shadow  thus  speaks  and  frowns.  But  faith  comes 
nobly  out  of  this  conflict.  It  lets  not  go  its  talisman.  It 
seizes  the  word  of  God  with  a  compulsory  grasp.  Immediately 
the  believer  is  compassed  about  with  light,  and  looks  with  an 
air  of  complacent  triumph  at  the  baffled  shadow. 


April  15. — "  Men  ought  always  to  pray  and  not  to  faint." — Luke  xviii.  1. 

The  context  informs  us  what  that  prayer  is  in  which  we 
ought  not  to  allow  ourselves  to  faint.  The  prayer  is  that  God 
would  be  pleased  to  judge  between  his  people  and  the  world. 
The  world  denies  the  claim  of  the  righteous  to  be  considered 
the  children  of  God.  The  one  great  need  of  the  Church  is, 
that  God  should  bear  testimony  unto  the  v/ord  of  his  grace, 
and  rebuke  the  nations  with  a  voice  they,  can  but  hear,  saying, 
'•  Touch  not  my  anointed,  and  do  my  prophets  no  harm." 
The  Lord  Jesus  taught  us  what  to  ask  for,  when  he  said  to  the 
Father,  "  That  the  world  may  know  that  thou  hast  sent  me  and 
hast  loved  my  disciples  as  thou  hast  loved  me."  The  revela- 
tion of  God  in  his  relation  to  believers,  by  their  sanctification, 
by  the  perfection  of  his  image  in  them,  by  the  gifts  and  graces 
of  his  Holy  Spirit,  by  his  providence,  and  by  unprecedented 


128  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

methods  reserved  to  be  the  special  glory  of  the  latter  days — is 
what  we  ask.  Is  this  a  thing  to  stop  asking  ?  Does  the  sick 
man  give  over  seeking  for  health,  because  his  sickness  is  pro- 
tracted ?  Or  does  the  hungry  man  desist  from  his  search  for 
food,  when  it  is  not  soon  found  ?  No,  for  he  well  knows  that 
if  he  fail  of  obtaining  food,  he  fails  of  all.  This  benefit  with- 
drawn, all  others  are  withdrawn.  Well  therefore  may  we 
continue  in  prayer,  for  what  we  ask  is  indispensable. 

This  continuing  in  prayer  is  a  singularly  profitable  exercise. 
When  we  cry  to  God  and  receive  no  answer,  and  still  continue 
in  supplication,  not  wavering,  we  find  our  minds  running  with 
a  surprising  vigilance  through  the  pages  of  Scripture,  snatch- 
ing up  a  word  of  help  here  and  another  there.  We  become 
most  rapidly  intelligent  of  its  precious  contents.  Our  views 
of  Grod  expand ;  his  character,  his  government,  his  purposes, 
present  themselves  to  us  with  a  definiteness  that  they  never 
had  before  in  our  perceptions.  Our  knowledge  of  ourselves 
in  like  manner  advances  in  an  equally  accelerated  ratio.  And 
all  this  tends  to  the  increase  of  faith.  The  very  discovery  of 
our  own  unworthmess  tends,  at  such  a  time,  to  make  us  rest 
more  confidently  on  the  righteous  Advocate.  We  get  a  hun- 
dred preparatory  blessings,  and  then  at  last  we  get  the  blessing 
sought.  Meantime  our  conceptions  of  that  blessing  have  been 
greatly  elevated.  If  at  first  it  ranked  in  our  estimation  as  a 
thousand,  it  now  ranks  as  millions.  We  have  looked  at  it  in 
the  future,  and  seen  it  undergo  many  transfigurations.  We 
were  consoled  in  the  hour  of  our  disappointed  faith,  by  seeing 
the  prize  put  on  superior  beauty,  and  show  itself  more  worth 
pursuing  than  we  had  previously  believed.  Imagine  a  vase 
with  your  name  upon  it,  fast  by  the  throne  of  God.  As  you 
prayed,  your  heavenly  Father  dropped  ever  and  anon  a  gift 
brighter  than  your  best  conception  into  that  vessel.  Mean- 
while he  sought  among  the  hours  of  your  future  life  for  one  in 
which  the  bestowal  of  this  accumulating  wealth  would  be  largest 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  129 

in  results;  and  marked  that  hour  also  on  the  vase.  And  while 
you  thought  yourself  poor,  angels  looked  with  admiration  on 
your  treasure  in  heaven. 


April  16. — "  The  beloved  of  the  Lord." — Deuteronomy  xxxiii.  12. 

Who  is  this  beloved  of  the  Lord  ?  It  is  one  who  believes 
n  the  love  that  God  has  toward  him.  We  have  not  to  bring 
about  the  love  of  God  towards  us ;  but  to  recognize  that  love. 
Peter  had  a  great  idea  of  his  own  love  to  Christ;  "  though  all 
men  forsake  thee,  yet  will  I  not  forsake  thee ;"  but  John  was 
content  to  speak  of  himself  as  the  beloved  of  the  Lord. 
Herein  is  love,  not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that  he  loved  us. 
His  love  to  us  is  as  our  faith  in  his  love,  and  in  our  own  un worthi- 
ness. "  0  Daniel,  greatly  beloved,"  said  the  angel  to  that  man 
of  God ;  and  oftentimes  a  similar  declaration  runs  down  to  us 
from  the  skies.  Surely  facts  speak  as  loudly  as  words ;  how 
many  facts  can  you  at  this  moment  point  to,  each  and  all  de- 
claring that  you  are  the  beloved  of  the  Lord. 

Do  you  still  hesitate  to  class  yourself  as  a  third  with  Daniel 
and  John  ?  Tell  me,  is  there  any  greater  expression  of  the 
love  of  God,  than  was  given  in  the  surrender  of  his  Son  to 
Gethsemane,  Gabbatha,  and  Calvary?  Did  Daniel  or  John 
ever  receive  any  more  affecting  love-token  than  this  ?  Be  only 
bold  enough  to  know  the  love  that  was  expressed  when  Christ 
tasted  death  for  you,  and  you  may  without  hesitation  sit  down 
beneath  the  same  tree  with  Daniel  and  John,  and  expect  them 
to  listen  while  you  speak  of  the  crucified  one. 

But  ever  remember  that  you  cannot  begin  to  estimate  the 
love  of  Calvary,  till  you  have  given  up  all  notions  of  your  own 
goodness.  It  makes  an  immense  difference  in  estimating  God's 
love,  whether  that  love  was  bestowed  on  an  utterly  vile  and  re- 
pulsive sinner,  or  upon  an  amiable  being,  adorned  with  many 
graces,  and  naturally  attractive.  If  you  judge  yourself  to  be 
this  last,  then  you  can  never  know  anything  about  the  love  set 


130  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

forth  in  the  gospel ;  and  you  will  do  well  to  avoid  the  society 
of  Daniel  and  John.  Divine  love  wade  them  amiable  and 
attractive ;  not  found  them  so. 


April  17. — "  Come  now  and  let  us  reason  together,  saith  the  Lord."— 
•Isaiah  i.  18, 

"  Let  there  be  an  understanding  between  us.  Let  us  talk 
over  the  points  of  difference  between  us,  and  see  if  we  cannot 
come  to  a  settlement.  If  you  have  any  fault  to  find  with  me, 
state  it.  If  I  am  not  what  you  would  have  me  be,  put  your 
objection  into  words.  Be  explicit.  You  alienate  yourself 
from  me,  shun  my  paths,  avoid  all  approaches  to  communion 
with  me,  shut  up  my  word,  look  coldly  on  my  people,  and  if 
you  can  possibly  get  anything  else  to  think  of,  no  matter  how 
contemptible  it  be,  you  will  not  give  a  thought  to  me  or  to  my 
solicitations.  Again  I  say,  be  exploit,  be  honest.  I  will  not 
object  to  any  statement  of  your  views,  so  that  they  be  made  in 
a  spirit  of  frankness,  and  with  a  willingness  to  be  enlightened. 
Come  and  let  us  reason  together.  Let/'us  go  by  ourselves, 
where  there  may  be  no  curiosity  of  man  to  interfere  with  the 
fullest  intercommunication.'* 

The  Lord  invites  me  to  a  conference  with  himself  Why 
should  I  not  go  ?  Why  should  I  not  state  to  God  himself  my 
difficulties.  Is  it  right,  is  it  honest,  to  be  entertaining  this 
lukewarmness,  this  aversion,  and  not  be  willing  to  have  the 
grounds  of  it  clearly  defined  ?  0  my  soul,  come  to  an  under- 
standing with  thy  Grod.  The  main  difiiculty  with  thee  is  a 
consciousness  that  after  all  the  guilt  will  be  found  with  thee, 
and  not  a  particle  of  blame  attach  to  God.  But  observe,  my 
soul,  how  admirably  this  difficulty  is  met  by  his  generous  pro- 
posal. My  sins  are  as  s'carlet,  but  he  hastens  to  say  that  they 
shall  be  as  white  as  snow.  He  meets  me  with  a  robe  of  justifi- 
cation, and  royally  adorns  me  at  the  very  threshold  of  his 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  131 

house ;  so  that  I  need  not  to  dread  tlie  humiliating  contrast  of 
my  rags  with  that  resplendent  audience-chamber.  And  if  he 
so  hasten  to  justify  me,  the  most  unholy  of  beings,  shall  I  not  be 
willing  to  justify  him,  the  holiest  and  best?  Yes,  Lord,  let 
me  reason  with  thee ;  for  where  thou  mightest  condemn,  there 
thou  dost  vouchsafe  the  most  surprising  promises,  the  most 
transporting  tokens  of  love. 


April  18. — "0  God,  thou  art  my  God." — Psalm  Ixiii.  1. 

Mine  !  All  mine  !  All  the  revelation  of  thee  in  the  Bible 
is  the  revelation  of  my  Grod.  Thy  wisdom  is  all  for  me.  So 
is  thy  power.  So  is  thy  goodness.  So  is  thy  truth,  thy  pu- 
rity, thy  justice ;  thy  time  is  for  me,  thy  eternity  for  me  ',  thy 
works'  for  me.  Thou  sittest  on  the  throne  of  the  universe  for 
me ;  pervadest  all  space  for  me ;  arrangest  all  thy  plans  for  me. 

Many  millions  of  millionB  of  miles  away,  but  a  star  to  thine 
eyes,  is  a  sun  huge  in  mass,  dazzling  in  splendor,  weighty  in 
attraction,  beneficent  in  function.  Around  it,  in  orbit  suc- 
ceeding orbit,  with  velocities,  densities,  bulks,  revolutions, 
times,  beautifully  harmonized,  are  numerous  planets,  each 
having  its  oceans  and  continents,  its  forests,  its  animals,  its  in- 
telligent creation.  Shall  God  take  thought  for  thee,  in  that 
distant  gTOup  of  worlds  ?  Can  he  not  let  go  the  thought  of 
thee,  as  he  enters  that  distant  system  and  directs  its  sublime 
movements  ?  No,  he  cannot  let  go  the  thought  of  thee.  That 
sun  is  commissioned  not  only  to  give  light  to  those  revolving 
worlds,  but  ever,  without  a  moment's  intermission,  to  send 
down  to  thee  a  ray  of  light  expressive  of  his  unforgetting  love. 
It  hangs  above  thee  by  day,  hindered  by  other  light  from 
reaching  thee ;  but  no  sooner  does  night  open  a  door  for  it, 
than  it  rushes  to  the  spot  where  thou  art.  All  the  night  long 
it  is  there ;  thou  hast  but  to  look,  and  it  meets  thy  glance. 
What  meets  thy  glance  ?     Yon  distant  sun,  thousands  of  times 


132  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

the  size  of  this  earth.  The  ray  that  meets  thy  eye  is  all  for 
thee ;  it  is  thine  own  particular  token  that  the  omnipresent 
God,  in  whatsoever  part  of  the  universe  he  may  be  displaying 
his  perfections,  cannot  for  an  instant  be  unmindful  of  the  rela- 
tion existing  between  him  and  thee. 

This  in  nature.     How  much  more  in  grace.     And  we  learn 
these  things  first  in  grace. 


April  19. — "  The  Lord  lifteth  up  the  meek." — Psalm  cxlvii.  6. 

The  meek  are  they  who  have  consented  to  receive  .the 
knowledge  of  themselves.  Self-detection  has  led  to  self-spo- 
liation. Their  wardrobe  has  turned  out  to  be  a  pirate's  chest. 
The  more  richly  they  went  arrayed,  the  more  they  exposed 
their  own  dishonor.  They  gladly  now  sink  down  to  their 
proper  level,  and  find  no  place  too  low  for  them.  Perhaps 
they  occasionally  shrink  back  from  some  deeper  humiliation. 
But  the  Spirit  of  God  and  his  providence  convince  them,  and 
they  take  that  step  too.  They  lose  at  length  their  reluctance, 
and  are  content  to  be  last  of  all  and  servant  of  all. 

Oh !  how  few,  how  rare,  are  those  meek  ones !  Am  I  one 
of  them,  0  Lord  ?  Am  I  quite  content  to  be  overlooked  in 
the  day  when  thou  distributest  honors  on  the  earth  ?  Am  I 
willing  to  be  despised  by  all,  and  made  of  no  account  ?  Is  my 
chief  ambition  to  be  useful,  eminently  but  not  ostensibly  use- 
ful ?  And  if  I  get  this  spirit  one  day,  does  it  abide  with  me  ? 
Do  I  not  find  myself  coming  into  new  circumstances  where  my 
mean  estate  troubles  me  ?  And  through  some  insidious  sug- 
gestion does  there  arise  impatience  of  God's  depressing  provi- 
dence ?  Thou  that  art  meek  and  lowly  of  heart,  teach  me  to 
be  meek,  give  me  a  meekness  that  shall  pass  through  every 
ordeal. 

The  meek  shall  be  lifted  up;  they  shall  be  exalted  very 
high.     But  in  their  utmost  exaltation  they  will  lose  nothing 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  133 

jf  their  meekness.  In  tlie  highest  or  in  the  lowest  situation, 
they  are  at  home,  they  are  blessed.  The  idea  of  their  own 
merit  has  been  ground  out  of  them  by  the  wheel  of  Grod's  gov- 
ernment ;  and  their  whole  being  is  pervaded  and  beatified  by 
God's  love. 

April  20. — "He  shall  never  sufiFer  the  righteous  to  be  moved." — Psalm 
Iv.  22. 

Some  one  may  say  :  "  He  will  never  allow  the  righteous  to 
fall  away ;  but  what  right  have  I  to  regard  myself  as  right- 
eous ?     Of  what  avail  is  this  promise  to  me  V 

Well,  it  is  of  none,  if  thou  art  not  righteous.  In  that  case, 
the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  thee ;  there  are  no  promises  for 
thee.  But  are  there  no  promises  for  such  as  hunger  and  thirst 
after  righteousness  ?  Yes,  for  they  are  righteous.  The  Pub- 
lican went  down  to  his  house,  justified  rather  than  the  Phari- 
see. To  look  unto  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  is  the  right- 
eousness of  sinful  man.  The  measure  in  which  a  man  re- 
nounces the  notion  of  his  own  righteousness,  is  generally  the 
measure  according  to  which  God  estimates  him  as  righteous. 
Our  text  corresponds  with  the  words  :  "  My  sheep  shall  never 
perish,  neither  shall  any  be  able  to  pluck  them  out  of  my 
hand." 

Others  say :  "  We  make  no  pretensions  to  piety,  but  we  are 
righteous,  and  none  the  less  so  that  we  have  the  boldness  to 
declare  ourselves  what  we  are." 

Let  us  see.  You  daily  receive  at  your  board  a  poor  creature 
who,  without  your  bounty,  would  be  a  miserable  beggar,  totter- 
ing to  an  obscure  grave.  You  spread  for  him  an  excellent 
banquet,  and  that  as  often  as  he  has  appetite.  Yet  he  never 
takes  the  slightest  notice  of  you,  never  joins  in  any  laudations 
of  your  name,  turns  the  subject  of  conversation  when  you  are 
mentioned.  You  have  authorized  him  to  go  daily  to  your 
treasurer,  and  receive  whatever  he  needs  for  his  daily  expenses, 
32 


134  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

and  even  for  his  prospective  expenditure ;  yet  he  never  admits 
that  he  is  indebted  to  you  for  the  money,  and  is  just  as  ready 
to  bestow  it  on  your  enemies  as  on  your  friends.  He  lives  in 
your  house ;  sleeps  upon  your  couch  3  receives  raiment  from 
your  wardrobe ;  is  made  glad  by  your  wine ;  regaled  by  the 
perfume  of  your  flowers ;  entertained  by  your  music ;  conveyed 
in  your  carriages;  instructed  by  your  teachers;  aided  by  your 
wisdom ;  and  upheld  by  your  strength.  Yet  never  is  he  found 
rendering  you  any  due  respect,  or  troubling  himself  to  know 
what  is  your  will.  In  a  thousand  things  he  violates  your  com- 
mands. But  in  his  transactions  with  his  fellow-servants,  he  is 
particular  not  to  defraud  them.  Shoul  he  indeed  learn  from 
thee  what  his  duties  to  them  are,  he  would  discover  that  he 
comes  exceedingly  short  even  in  these.  But  be  it  so.  He  is 
very  careful  to  conduct  himself  in  such  a  manner  towards  them 
as  to  be  regarded  as  an  honest  man.  Ten  thousand  mercies 
from  thee  leave  him  as  indifferent  to  thy  will  and  pleasure  as 
ever  he  was;  yet  the  least  benefit  from  his  fellow  awakens  in 
him  gratitude  and  a  desire  to  requite  the  favor. — Shall  such  a 
man  be  counted  righteous  ?  Does  not  the  moral  sense  that 
reveals  itself  in  his  communications  with  his  fellow-men,  serve 
only  the  more  signally  to  condemn  him  ?  He,  and  such  as  he, 
are  unrighteous ;  and  the  unrighteous  shall  not  inherit  the 
kingdom  of  Grod. 


April  21. — "  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled." — John  xiv.  1. 

If  these  words  were  appropriate  at  the  time  when  they  were 
spoken,  then  can  we  hardly  conceive  of  a  situation  in  which 
the  people  of  God  may  be  placed,  in  which  these  words  would 
be  inappropriate.  If  at  that  time  the  disciples  were  not  to 
be  troubled,  then  tell  me,  pray,  what  is  the  hour,  what  the 
emergency,  when  it  is  fitting  that  their  hearts  should  be 
troubled  ? 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  135 

Says  one,  "  My  cliild  is  dead;  my  beloved  one.  For  years 
mj  predominant  solicitude  had  been  to  make  all  things  work 
together  for  the  beautifying  of  her  life.  All  my  plans,  my 
labors,  my  hopes,  my  prayers  even,  have  had  largely  a  reference 
to  her  happiness.  My  present  joys  were  in  some  degree  con- 
stituted by  the  thought  of  what  she  would  be  in  days  to  come. 
And  now  she  is  suddenly  gone — in  a  whirlwind  of  suffering — 
under  circumstances  the  most  heart-rending.  The  world  is  for 
me  emptied,  in  a  single  hour.'' 

But  one  of  those  who  sat  at  table  with  Jesus  might  thus 
reply :  "  We  were  with  the  Messiah  for  whom  we  had  left 
father  and  mother,  wife  and  children.  We  had  staked  all  our 
hopes  upon  him.  By  following  him  we  had  brought  upon  us 
the  enmity  of  mankind ;  and  by  his  departure  we  were  to  be 
exposed  to  the  full  blast  of  that  enmity.  We  had  made  up 
our -minds  that  he  was  the  Lord  of  Life,  and  that  all  dignities 
of  heaven  or  earth  were  in  his  gift,  and  that  of  the  increase 
of  his  dominion  there  should  be  no  end,  and  that  he  would 
presently  prepare  for  us  twelve  thrones  corresponding  to  the 
twelve  tribes  of  the  children  of  Israel.  And  now  we  were 
told,  and  that  by  himself,  that  he  was  to  be  taken  away ;  taken 
violently  away  by  the  hands  of  sinners ;  subjected  to  all  man- 
ner of  outrages ;  be,  as  it  were,  denounced  from  heaven,  God 
not  interposing  for  his  deliverance ;  and  to  die  a  most  igno- 
minious and  barbarous  death.  And  yet  we  were  bidden  not 
to  let  our  hearts  be  troubled.  The  sun  was  to  be  as  sackcloth, 
and  the  moon  as  blood ;  all  the  powers  of  heaven  were  to  be 
shaken ;  yet  we  were  to  remain  peaceful  and  serene." 

One  may  say,  "  I  could  have  met  with  equanimity  all  the 
common  woes  of  life;  but  my  good  name,  which  has  never 
been  reproached,  is  now  covered  with  opprobrium."  The 
apostles  may  answer  :  "  This  was  what  was  about  to  happen  to 
us.  We  were  to  be  universally  regarded  as  the  followers  of  a 
manifest   impostor,    preachers  of  blasphemy,  enemies   of  all 


136  DAILY    MEDITATIOXS. 

righteousness;  yet   we   were   told   not   to  let  our  hearts  be 
troubled." 

Another  speaks,  and  says  :  ''  These  things  may  be  endured 
by  the  grace  of  God.  But  where  there  is  no  manifestation  of 
God  to  the  soul,  when  spiritual  darkness  has  set  in  upon  us, 
can  we  be  otherwise  than  troubled  ?"  The  apostles  answer : 
"■What  darkness  was  comparable  to  ours?  When  Christ  was 
crucified,  it  seemed  that  God  was  saying  from  heaven  unto  us, 
'  I  know  you  not.'  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  was  what  his 
providence  appeared  to  say,  in  a  language  that  all  could  under- 
stand. Yet  the  Lord  Jesus,  knowing  all  things  that  should 
happen,  said  unto  us,  let  not  your  liearts,  he  trouhled." 


April  22. — "  Bring  forth,  therefore,  fruits  meet  for  repentance." — Mat- 
thew iii.  8 

A  mighty  angel  stands  in  heaven  upon  a  height  at  the  foot 
of  which  you  dwell  unconsciously ;  and  he  bears  aloft  in  his 
hands  a  stone,  mountainous  in  size,  which  he  is  prepared  to 
hurl  upon  you.  But  another  mighty  one  says:  Stay;  for  he 
repents,  and  will  now  bring  forth  fruits  in  evidence  thereof. 
Then  the  company  of  the  just  made  perfect,  bend  their  eager 
gaze  upon  you  to  discern  this  evidence ;  and  the  stone  descends 
not,  though  it  hangs  above  you.  Well  may  you  therefore  give 
heed  to  this  admonition,  and  make  haste  to  bring  forth  fruits. 

A  profession  of  religion  is  a  solemn  and  open  condemnation 
of  and  shrinking  from  our  past  life.  It  is  a  profession  of  re- 
pentance, of  a  changed  mind  relatively  to  sin  and  to  unright- 
eousness. Christ  is  exalted  to  give  repentance.  He  saves  men 
from  their  sins  by  inspiring  them  with  a  hatred  of  their  sins, 
and  by  giving  them  a  heart  to  pursue  an  opposite  path.  For 
one  that  has  made  such  a  profession,  to  trifle  with  sin,  to  re- 
new communications  with  his  old  sins,  is  a  most  dangerous 
thing.  When  he  indulges  in  a  forbidden  thing,  he  calls  back 
the  ten  thousand  similar  indulgences  belonging  to  his  past  life. 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  137 

Seeing  liim  turn  to  Christ,  these  sins  had  begun  to  flee  from 
him  discomfited )  but  a  single  recommission  arrests  them,  and 
thej  exclaim,  "he  yet  belongs  to  us."  The  ten  thousand 
talents  had  been  forgiven  the  steward  Y\'ho  professed  repent- 
ance ;  but  a  single  act  that  seemed  to  show  his  repentance  un- 
sound, brought  the  whole  of  the  huge  debt  back  upon  him. 

Oh,  my  heart,  is  there  not  here  instruction  for  thee  ?  Is  it 
not  well  for  thee  to  entertain  the  idea  that  repentance  is  an  in- 
dispensable barrier  to  keep  thee  from  the  tremendous  claims  of 
thy  past  sins  ?  When  a  feeling  of  pride  surges  within  thee, 
remember  that  the  allowing  of  it  will  be  like  a  standard  lifted 
up  for  all  thy  old  sins  of  pride,  a  fearful  host,  to  rally  round. 
Thy  old  sins,  all  of  them,  with  all  their  power  to  alarm,  to  con- 
demn, to  destroy,  are  buried  for  thee,  deep  and  safe ;  but  the 
stoue  that  covers  them  is  sealed  by  the  evidences  of  thy  change 
of  heart;  and  if  at  any  time,  something  like  the  old  heart  is 
seen  in  thee,  immediately  the  stone  begins  to  heave,  and  the 
buried  sins  cry  out,  "  We  are  unjustly  here.  He  bringeth  not 
forth  fruits  meet  for  repentance.'^ 


April  23. — "  Lord,  lift  tliou  up  upon  us  the  light  of  thy  countenance." 
— Psalm  iv.  6. 

Grive  us  the  tokens  of  thy  favor,  the  expressions  of  thy  grace, 
the  revelation  of  thy  glory.  Acknowledge  us  as  thy  sons 
and  daughters,  privileged  ones,  having  access  to  thine  audience- 
chamber,  and  permitted  to  behold  the  majesty  and  kindness 
that  to  others  are  veiled.  Let  the  light  of  thy  loving  glance 
descend  into  our  soul.  A  day  is  coming  when  thy  glory  shall 
be  flashed  abroad  through  all  the  heavens,  and  when  it  shall 
fall  like  one  immense  sheet  of  lightning  upon  the  nations.  But 
what  the  world  cannot  now  behold,  let  us  behold.  Though  the 
rising  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  in  fall-orbed  glory,  be  not 
yet,  let  at  least  the  day-star  arise  in  our  hearts. 

It  is  not  in  the  hour  of  worldly  prosperity  that  we  are  best 
12* 


138  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

able  to  beliold  the  light  of  God's  countenance  in  its  most 
transporting  manifestations.  The  benefits  that  God  bestows 
equally  upon  the  just  and  upon  the  unjust,  upon  his  children 
and  his  enemies,  are  not  those  that  most  favor  our  perception 
of  the  light  of  God's  countenance.  The  Spirit  of  glory  and 
of  God  resteth  especially  on  those  who  are  reproached  for  the 
name  of  Christ.  Stephen,  when  encompassed  by  his  numerous 
enemies,  saw  heaven  opened,  and  the  Son  of  Man  standing  at 
the  right  hand  of  the  glory  of  God.  Sometimes  the  revelation 
of  the  glory  is  vouchsafed  in  the  midst  of  the  trial )  (call  to 
mind  several  instances  of  this  in  the  word  of  God ;) — some- 
times to  prepare  the  believer  for  fiery  trials ;  witness  Isaiah, 
Ezekiel; — sometimes  after  the  enduring  of  the  trials;  witness 
Job,  Simeon,  and  others. 

Is  there  not  something  held  out  to  thee  in  this  sentence, 
that  looms  far  higher  than  any  conception  that  thou  hast  ven- 
tured to  form  of  the  readiness  of  God  to  reveal  himself  to  the 
friends  of  Jesus,  and  of  his  power  to  enrapture  the  soul  by  a 
glance  that  faith  discerns  ?  If  there  be  anything  soul-glad- 
dening in  the  light  of  a  created  countenance,  what  exalted 
ideas  may  we  not  form  of  the  incomparable  delights  that  shall 
descend  into  the  soul  when  God,  the  Creator,  the  Redeemer, 
the  Sanctifier,  fixes  on  us  his  unrestricted  glance  of  love. 

Let  us  utter  this  prayer  with  all  intensity  of  desire  and 
strength  of  expectation.  Let  our  life  utter  it.  Men  go  down 
into  deep  wells  that  they  may  see  a  star,  a  mere  star;  let  us 
not  shrink  from  any  position  to  which  the  angels  of  divine 
providence  may  beckon  us,  and  from  which  we  are  likely  to 
behold  more  gloriously  the  revelation  of  the  countenance  of 
our  God. 

Ap^il  24. — "From  him  cometli  my  salvation." — Psalm  Ixii.  1. 

From  wlwm  ?  From  him  whose  commandments  I  have  so 
flagrantly  violated,  and  whose  authority  I  have  set  at  nought. 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  139 

From  him  whose  countless  benefits  I  have  clutched  without 
noticing  the  hand  that  bestowed  them.  From  the  thrice-holy 
One  at  whose  reproof  the  pillars  of  heaven  tremble  and  are 
astonished ;  and  by  whose  command  the  fallen  angels  are  kept 
under  the  chains  of  darkness.  Perdition  has  overtaken  myri- 
ads of  beings  who  went  not  so  far  in  the  contempt  of  God,  as 
I  did ;  yet  salvation  cometh  to  me  from  him.  All  his  perfec- 
tions, the  stability  of  his  government,  the  interests  of  his  holy 
universe,  seem  to  require  the  outpouring  of  his  fiercest  wrath 
upon  my  head;  yet  from  him  cometh  my  salvation. 

From  him  it  cometh.  Every  day,  every  hour,  it  cometh  to 
me ;  by  one  agency,  and  by  another ;  now  in  this  manner,  now 
in  that.  It  cometh  to  me  in  his  word;  in  the  answers  to 
prayer ;  in  the  examples  of  good  men ;  in  reverses  and  humili- 
ations ;  and  in  the  various  providences  that  help  me  to  see  the 
loathsomeness  of  sin.  It  comes  to  me  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
in  new  views  of  the  all-worthiness  of  Christ.  And  what  has 
not  yet  reached  me  is  on  its  way  to  me.  By  faith  I  rejoice  in 
experiences  to  come;  in  deliverance  from  all  sin  and  from  all 
corruption ;  in  perfection,  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical. 

My  salvation.  I  know  more  evil  of  myself,  than  I  can  posi- 
tively know  of  another.  When  I  take  some  of  the  pictures 
of  my  past  life,  and  thrust  them  into  the  purity  of  heaven,  the 
whole  creation  seems  to  suffer  violence,  to  groan  and  shudder 
at  the  unendurable  contrast.  Shall  this  bosom  that  has  been 
the  seat  of  affections  so  dishonorable,  be  interpenetrated  with 
the  very  love  of  Grod,  love  to  all  that  are  the  fitting  objects  of 
love,  love  ineffable  and  immaculate  ? 

My  salvation.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  my  Saviour,  came  to 
earth  to  make  an  atonement,  proclaim  his  gospel,  establish  his 
church,  pour  out  his  Spirit.  This  was  the  Alpha  of  my  salva- 
tion. I  look  for  him  now  from  heaven,  in  glory,  to  complete 
in  me  his  wondrous  work,  and  present  me  faultless,  transfigured, 
angelic,  before  his  Father's  throne.     This  will  be  the  Omega. 


140  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

April  25. — "Forget  not  all  his  benefits." — Psalm  ciii.  2. 

The  meaning  is,  forget  not  any,  remember  all.  The  right 
recollection  of  a  benefit  is  all  but  equal  to  a  new  benefit.  As 
God  is  the  same,  as  the  expressions  of  his  goodness  are  ex- 
pressions of  eternal  goodness,  the  recollection  of  a  past  benefit 
may  well  be  cherished  since  it  is  in  a  certain  sense  not  past 
but  present.  Each  token  of  love  let  down  by  God  into  my 
life,  projects  itself  forward  indefinitely,  and  accompanies  me 
on  an  undying  mission,  to  declare  that  God  and  I  are  friends 
through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  domain  of  faith  extends 
not  only  over  the  present  and  the  future,  but  over  the  past  also. 
It  is  faith  that  keeps  snatching  the  past  kindnesses  of  God 
from  the  sea  of  oblivion. 

The  gifts  of  God  are  not  bestowed  upon  believers  merely  to 
relieve  a  want,  or  to  meet  a  capacity  for  enjoyment.  They  are 
not  merely  bestowed  for  the  good  that  is  in  them  but  to  reveal 
something  in  the  disposition  of  the  giver.  They  are  epistles 
telling  of  his  love,  wisdom,  and  power.  Now  it  is  evident  that 
a  past  benefit  remembered,  must  be  about  as  valid  for  this 
blessed  purpose  as  a  present  benefit.  God  is  bound  over  to 
goodness  by  his  past  charities,  if  faith  remembers  them. 

How  odious  is  it  not  to  remember  benefits.  The  rich  man 
whose  treasures  are  greater  than  he  can  compute,  should  not 
treat  with  disdain  a  trifling  present,  if  it  express  the  good  will 
of  a  poor  man.  Nevertheless  the  rich  do  often  exhibit  such 
disdain,  especially  in  the  form  of  forgetfulness.  Benefits  from 
those  whose  kindness  we  value,  we  presume  not  to  forget.  But 
is  God  a  being  so  low  in  the  scale,  that  gifts  from  him  are 
grasped  only  for  their  own  sake,  and  the  giver  immediately 
forgotten  ?  Do  you  like  that  your  own  presents  to  another 
should  be  forgotten  ?  No,  not  the  least  of  them.  It  galls  you 
exceedingly  if  one  out  of  ten  benefits  should  pass  from  the 
recollection  of  your  beneficiary. 

But  how  remember  all  these  benefits  ?     Those  of  a  sino;le 


DAILY   MEDITATIOXS.  141 

day  exceed  in  number  the  liaks  of  the  head.  Weil,  let  there 
be  a  readiness  to  remember  them.  Let  faith  look  into  the  past 
for  them.     Let  them  not  be  slighted. 

We  are  not  always  able  to  see  at  the  time  the  true  meaning 
of  the  benefit.  The  length  and  breadth  of  the  divine  good- 
ness does  not  come  out,  until  some  time  has  elapsed,  and  we 
are  able  to  look  back  upon  it  from  some  vantage  point  m  the 
future.  These  past  benefits  are  like  books  in  our  library  that 
we  suppose  we  have  read ;  but  we  take  them  down  some  day, 
and  are  astonished  at  the  wonderful  things,  before  unrecog- 
nized, that  present  themselves  to  our  improved  perception. 


April  26. — "  The  riches  of  his  grace." — Ephesians  i.  7. 

Your  idea  of  riches,  does  it  run  most  naturally  in  this  di- 
rection ?  Perhaps  you  are  blessed  (as  men  say)  with  worldly 
goods.  Your  wealth  enables  you  to  surround  yourself  with 
many  beautiful  and  tasteful  articles  that  some  people  might 
call  objects  of  luxury;  to  live  in  a  certain  style;  to  associate 
with  a  certain  class  to  which  you  think  you  belong  in  a  peculiar 
sense.  But,  these  are  not  your  only  riches.  You  are  enabled 
to  approach  Grod  by  faith  in  Christ  the  mediator,  morning  and 
evening,  to  cast  your  care  on  him,  commit  yourself  to  his 
guidance,  rejoice  in  his  goodness,  meditate  in  his  word,  and 
occupy  yourself  with  elevating  thoughts  of  the  inheritance 
incorruptible  reserved  in  heaven  for  you.  Of  these  two  por- 
tions, the  worldly  and  the  heavenly,  which  is  dearest  to  you  ? 
You  answer :  "  The  heavenly  of  course.  The  favor  of  God, 
that  is  life.  The  love  of  Christ,  this  is  true  wealth.  It 
pleases  God  to  adorn  my  earthly  path,  by  the  gift  of  so  much 
wealth  as  surrounds  me  and  mine  with  things  that  a  refined 
taste  must  prize ;  but  my  heart,  while  it  accepts  them  with 
thankfulness,  cleaves  not  to  them." 

The  answer  appears  unexceptionable ;  perhaps  is  so.     But 


142  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

is  it  not  a  conceivable  thing  that  God  has  given  you  of  the 
riches  of  earth,  to  test  the  force  of  your  attachment  to  the 
heavenly  treasure  ?  Are  you  not  looking  at  things  rather  from 
the  modern  point  of  view  than  from  the  apostolic  and  scrip- 
tural? Examine  yourself  Would  it  be  a  very  disastrous 
thing  to  you  to  have  to  come  down  and  associate  with  Chris- 
tians of  a  humble  order,  as  one  of  them  ?  Do  you  grasp  your 
worldly  substance  with  much  less  tenacity  than  the  heavenly  ? 
Do  losses  of  the  inferior  kind  seem  to  you  every  way  inferior  ? 
Does  Christian  affection,  at  all  times  and  under  all  circum- 
stances, seem  to  you  of  greater  price  than  the  friendship  of 
the  worldly  members  of  that  society  to  which  you  fancy  you 
inherently  belong  ?     Oh,  be  honest ! 


April  27. — "Learn  of  me;  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart." — 
Matthew  xi.  29. 

In  telling  us  this  of  himself,  our  Lord  does  not  profess  to 
tell  us  anything  new,  but  simply  to  refer  to  a  well-known  fact. 
Everything  in  his  life  declared  that  he  was  meek  and  lowly  of 
heart.  Power,  wisdom,  generosity,  love — these  things  were 
not  more  largely  revealed  in  his  life,  than  were  his  meekness 
and  lowliness  of  heart.  For  instance,  in  the  choice  of  a  posi- 
tion. He  entered  one  of  the  lowest  grades  of  society.  He 
had  intercourse  indeed  with  men  of  all  ranks ;  but  he  was  al- 
ways a  man  of  the  people.  His  intimate  companions,  his 
brethren,  those  among  whom  was  his  home,  were  fishermen, 
carpenters,  tax-gatherers.  The  rich  invited  him  to  their  tables 
sometimes,  but  it  was  either  by  way  of  condescension  or  curios- 
ity. Observe  the  reception  given  him  by  Simon  the  Pharisee. 
Simon  doubtless  knew  well  the  laws  of  courtesy,  and  punctually 
conformed  to  them  in  his  intercourse  with  people  of  his  own 
grade ;  but  when  Jesus  the  Nazarene  was  his  guest,  he  set 
them  aside ;  he  gave  him  no  water  for  his  feet,  embraced  him 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  143 

not,  and  anointed  not  liis  head  with  oil ;  thinking  it  quite  suf- 
ficient that  this  GaHlean  should  have  a  place  at  his  table. 
Christ  voluntarily  assumed  a  position  in  social  life,  where  he 
would  be  looked  down  upon  by  men  moving  in  the  higher 
spheres.     He  was  the  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners. 

He  chose  to  be  a  Nazarene,  though  the  prejudice  against 
Nazareth  was  so  strong  that  men  familiarly  said,  "  Can  any 
good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth  ?" 

He  was  not  merely  lowly  in  life,  but  lowly  in  heart.  Some 
rich  men  feel  ill  at  ease  in  the  society  of  men  of  inferior 
grades ;  they  task  themselves  perhaps  to  be  civil,  kind,  consid- 
erate ;  but  they  have  a  feeling  that  they  are  out  of  their  ele- 
ment, and  they  shrink  back  with  much  comfort  to  themselves 
into  their  accustomed  sphere.  But  Christ  was  consciously  at 
home  among  his  poor  and  illiterate  companions.  Their  habits 
of  thought,  their  mode  of  life,  their  topics  of  conversation, 
were  not  something  strange  to  him.  The  utmost  cordially 
characterized  his  manner,  and  stamped  his  lowliness  as  gen- 
uine. 

Learn  of  me;  that  is,  be  my  disciples.  The  believer  is  one 
who  is  learning  of  Christ  to  be  meek  and  lowly  of  heart. 

Does  the  notion  of  our  own  merit  make  it  difficult  for  us  to 
walk  in  "  all  meekness  and  lowliness  ?"  Surely,  our  merit  is 
hardly  to  be  put  in  comparison  with  that  of  Christ.  It  may 
be,  we  are  not  so  bad  as  some  people;  but  Christ  is  the  most 
meritorious  being  in  the  universe.  Shall  we  rate  ourselves 
above  him  ?  In  the  assemblies  of  men,  let  us  beware  how  we 
take  the  higher  place ;  for  though  we  may  think  ourselves  bet- 
ter than  some  that  are  there  present,  yet  are  we  not  better 
than  Christ ;  and  if  we  will  but  notice  it,  he  takes  the  lower 
place.  If  reproaches  are  offered  us,  let  us  consider  that 
greater  reproaches  are  offered  Christ,  and  he  endures  them. 

Almost  all  men  are  complaining  of  the  burden  laid  upon 
them :  they  think  that  too  much  is  imposed ;  every  man  would 


144  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

have  his  own  yoke  lightened  in  some  respect.  Now  what 
makes  the  burden  heavy  is  simply  the  unwilling  spirit.  Let 
us  get  from  Christ  a  cheerfully  submissive  spirit ;  let  us  learn 
from  him  not  to  quarrel  with  our  appointed  lot ;  and,  on  the 
instant,  by  virtue  of  this  inward  change,  our  burden  loses  a 
vast  deal  of  its  weight.  Christ  had  a  burden  that  would  have 
sunk  him  to  a  most  speedy  grave,  if  it  had  not  been  for  his 
meekness  and  lowliness  of  heart.  And  if  we  are  like  him  in 
these  characteristics,  it  will  make  comparatively  little  differ- 
ence what  the  burden  laid  upon  us  is ;  it  will  be  found  light. 

Again,  the  oppressive  thing  to  most  men  is  that  they  have 
to  meet  the  responsibilities  of  life,  alone.  But  Christ  reveals 
himself  to  believers  as  bearing  the  yoke  of  life  with  them ; 
their  true  yoke-fellow. 

Apkil  28. — "  Draw  nigh  to  God." — James  iv.  8. 

There  are  too  many,  even  among  those  reputed  Christians, 
who  seem  never  to  have  dtfawn  nigh  to  Grod.  They  have  a 
certain  reverence  for  him,  and  occupy  themselves  considerably 
with  the  doing  of  his  will.  But  they  do  not  seem  to  have 
ever  entered  into  the  holy  of  holies,  and  beheld  the  peculiar 
manifestations  of  Grod.  They  remain  at  a  certain  distance,  and 
think  it  reverential  perhaps  so  to  do.  But  true  reverence  will 
not  allow  us  to  slight  any  means  of  becoming  fitted  to  glorify 
Grod.  By  drawing  nigh  to  Grod,  we  are  brought  under  the 
power  of  his  perfections,  and  become  subject  to  his  most  potent 
influences.  He  that  is  least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
greater  than  the  greatest  of  the  ancient  prophets ;  and  there  is 
no  reason  why  we  should  not  draw  nigh  as  Abraham  did  when 
he  heard  that  Sodom  was  to  be  destroyed ;  as  Moses  did  when 
he  saw  the  burning  bush ;  and  when  he  went  up  into  the 
mountain  to  be  alone  with  the  glory  of  Grod ;  as  Isaiah  did  in 
the  temple,  and  as  Daniel  and  others  did.  The  Son  of  Grod 
ever  offers  to  accompany  us  into  the  presence  of  the  divine 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  145 

majesty,  and  to  sustain  us  in  the  interview;  wherefore  we  need 
not  fear  to  go. 

But  how  shall  we  draw  nigh  to  God?  AVhat  is  meant  by 
this  ? 

There  is  a  great  deal  that  is  shadowy  and  dubious  about  the 
communion  that  many  have  with  God.  They  have  no  such 
consciousness  of  having  met  and  conversed  with  God,  as  they 
have  of  their  communications  with  men.  There  has  been  no 
bright  and  animating  manifestation  of  God  to  their  souls. 
They  have  not  felt  the  power  of  his  present  majesty;  nor 
have  his  divine  perfections  taken  hold  upon  them  as  by  a  spe- 
cial revelation.  They  know  that  Grod  is  revealed  in  his  word 
as  gracious  and  merciful  towards  the  race  of  man ;  but  they 
have  not  considered  that  it  is  the  province  of  faith  to  single 
out  the  believer,  and  bring  him  by  himself  into  the  presence 
of  his  maker.  He  is  to  enter  into  peculiar  and  well-under- 
stood relations  to  God.  God  is  his  God;  he  is  the  child  of 
God ;  and  there  must  be  a  conscious  acquaintance  and  intimacy 
quite  distinct  from  the  general  goodness  of  God  towards  man- 
kind. In  order  that  we  may  draw  nigh  to  God,  we  must  be- 
come utterly  dissatisfied  with  the  vague  sort  of  communion 
that  so  many  are  content  with.  We  must  resolve  to  be  satisfied 
with  nothing  less  than  the  bright  shining  of  the  divine  pres- 
ence upon  our  individual  soul.  Vie  must  believe  it  attainable, 
and  resolve  to  attain  it  at  whatsoever  cost. 

Having  begun  to  seek  it  earnestly,  we  shall  perhaps  experi- 
ence many  disappointments.  The  word  of  God  unfolds  itself, 
it  is  true,  more  richly  to  our  souls  than  once  it  did ;  and  we 
get  juster  conceptions  of  him.  But  the  bright  and  soul-ele- 
vating discovery  of  him  himself,  we  do  not  obtain.  The 
more  we  seek,  however,  the  more  we  perceive  the  importance 
of  what  we  seek ;  and  feel  that  life  without  this  conscious 
union  of  the  soul  with  God,  is  insupportable.  We  take  this 
conviction  as  an  encouragement  from  on  high,  to  go  on.  As 
13 


146  DAILY    MEDITATION'S. 

we  continue  striving*  in  prayer  we  are  led  to  examine  ourselves 
earnestly  to  see  if  there  is  anything  in  our  way  of  life  that  is 
displeasing  to  God.  We  become  very  scrupulous ;  very  severe 
with  ourselves ;  we  cut  off  an  indulgence  here,  and  an  indul- 
gence there ;  and  wonder  how  we  should  have  formerly  been 
so  careless.  Duties  that  we  had  not  formerly  dreamed  of,  now 
discover  themselves  to  us ;  we  find  that  we  were  before  very 
ill  acquainted  with  the  will  of  Grod.  These  discoveries  per- 
haps only  make  us  the  more  unhappy.  For  we  feel  that  we 
need  a  strength  such  as  we  have  not,  in  order  to  live  the  life 
we  are  called  to.  More  and  more  we  see  the  absolute  necessity 
of  drawing  nigh  to  God  and  strengthening  ourselves  in  the 
consciousness  of  our  indissoluble  union  with  him  in  Christ. 
Finally,  in  some  hour  long  to  be  remembered,  there  falls  down 
as  it  were  a  great  vail,  and  with  joy  unspeakable  we  behold  the 
light  of  God's  countenance,  are  made  glad  by  the  assurance 
deeply  buried  in  the  soul,  that  an  Almighty  friend  accompa- 
nies us  along  the  journey  of  life. 


April  29. — "  Mercy  sliall  be  built  up  forever." — Psalm  Ixxxix.  2. 

"  Forty  centuries  look  upon  you,"  said  Bonaparte  to  his  sol- 
diers, pointing  to  the  pyramids.  Compared  with  the  ordinary 
structures  of  man,  these  are  immense,  massive,  enduring.  Yet 
all  the  monuments  of  men  are  built  upon  leased  ground,  and 
with  borrowed  materials.  They  must  vanish  away.  Another 
monument  is  to  be  reared ;  a  monument  to  the  mercy  of  God. 
Nothing  less  than  the  entire  length  and  breadth  of  the  earth 
will  suffice  for  its  foundation.  Even  the  sea  must  be  dried  up 
to  make  room  for  it. 

Of  course  the  paltry  monuments  of  man  must  disappear 
when  the  time  comes  for  the  completion  of  this  magnificent 
structure.  It  is  already  begun.  The  foundations  have  been 
dug  in  some  places.     The  chief  corner-stone  has  been  laid,  and 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  147 

SO  have  the  first  and  the  second  tiers  of  stones  connected  with 
the  foundation.  The  stakes  have  been  set  up  that  indicate  its 
dimensions.  Laborers  are  at  work  in  many  quarries.  The 
mountains  are  heaving.  The  bowels  of  the  earth  prepare  to 
surrender  their  stores.  A  fiat  has  gone  forth,  heeded  by  some, 
by  many  not  heard,  declaring  that  everything  in  heaven  and 
on  earth  is  to  be  held  in  readiness  for  any  exigency  connected 
with  this  building.  It  is  to  be  the  most  glorious  edifice  that 
the  universe  ever  beheld.  The  light  of  it  is  to  flash  upon  the 
most  distant  worlds,  and  give  them  a  glory  that  they  never  had 
before.  The  central  sun  will  find  itself  eclipsed  by  the  efi"ul- 
gence  streaming  from  this  monument.  The  boldest  concep- 
tions of  those  who  began  the  Tower  of  Babel,  were  utterly 
childish  in  comparison  with  this  structure  that  is  to  rear  its 
head  far  aloft  above  the  highest  mountains,  far  above  the  high- 
est clouds,  up,  up  among  the  stars,  indeed  far  above  all  stars ; 
nor  will  any  finite  admeasurement  ever  determine  its  height. 
This  monument  contains  the  mansions  of  the  elect.  It  is 
the  Palace  of  the  Lamb.  Its  stones  are  living  stones.  Its 
pillars  bear  the  image  of  Christ  in  living,  breathing  charac- 
ters. Around  the  gallery  of  its  dome,  is  an  inscription,  whose 
every  letter  is  a  host  of  redeemed  beings,  all  together  spelling 
the  sentence,  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only 
bcsotten  Son." 


April  .30. — "All  her  paths  are  peace." — Proverbs  iii.  17. 

Can  I  trust  thee,  "Wisdom  ?  Dost  thou  tell  the  whole  truth  ? 
If  I  embrace  this  bold  guarantee  of  thine,  and  commit  myself 
to  thy  paths,  is  it  certain  that  my  course  shall  be  one  of  unin- 
terrupted and  elevated  peace  ? 

"  Walk  in  my  paths,  and  God  will  be  at  peace  with  thee  ! 
What  an  infinite  gain  is  this!  Where  thou  now  art,  the 
wratli  of  God,  the  hostility  of  the  Omnipotent  impends  over 


148  DAILY    MEDITATIUXS. 

tlice.  ^Vere  all  the  hosts  of  the  universe  arrayed  against  thee, 
they  would  do  thee  the  merest  trifle  of  harm  in  comparison 
with  what  the  Aliuighty  by  a  single  sweep  of  his  hand  could 
do  thee.  Destruction  from  him  is  not  temporal,  but  eternal ; 
not  partial,  but  total.  Were  all  the  hosts  of  heaven,  earth, 
and  hell  against  thee,  they  could  not  make  one  hair  of  thy 
head  perish,  if  Grod  were  on  thy  side.  AYalk  in  my  path,  and 
ho  is  on  thy  side.'' 

It  must  be  of  course,  0  Wisdom,  an  infinite  gain  to  have  the 
Lord  God  on  our  side,  and  it  seems  to  be  certain  that  they  who 
walk  in  thy  path  have  him  at  peace  with  them.  Nevertheless, 
I  have  heard,  if  I  mistake  not,  that  there  are  many  afflictions 
to  the  righteous.  Is  it  not  thy  path  that  is  called  a  narrow 
path  ?  Is  it  not  said  that  men  must  take  up  their  cross  to 
walk  therein  ?  What  is  it  that  I  have  read  about  "  persecu- 
tions, afflictions,  reproaches,  distresses?"  Docs  not  thy  path 
go  down  sometimes  into  dungeons,  and  into  dens  of  lions?  Are 
not  fires  sometimes  kindled  to  burn  those  that  walk  therein  ? 

"  Nevertheless,  all  my  paths  are  peace.  Were  the  things 
you  have  mentioned,  expressive  of  the  wrath  of  God,  they 
would  then  militate  against  my  declaration.  But  they  who 
walk  in  my  path  are  taught  by  me  what  peace  truly  is.  They 
learn  to  find  it  in  the  sense  of  the  favor  of  God,  and  in  the 
assurance  that  all  who  love  God,  must  love  them,  sooner  or 
later.  So  with  unvanquished  peace,  they  bear  their  cross, 
pursue  the  narrow  path,  descend  into  dungeons,  and  meet  death 
at  the  stake." 

O  Wisdom,  pardon  my  tardy  acquiescence.  Some  doubts 
yet  linger.  Tears  ran  down  the  cheeks  of  holy  men  of  old, 
night  and  day,  because  of  those  who  kept  not  God's  law.  Will 
not  our  hearts  bleed  in  thy  paths,  over  the  miseries  of  the  un- 
regenerate  multitude  ?  Will  not  the  consciousness  of  evil  la 
ourselves,  war  with  our  peace  ? 

'■  I  say  not  that  if  you  walk   imperfecthj  in   my  ways,  you 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  149 

shall  have  perfect  peace.  -I  will  not  show  you  the  evil  of  your 
own  heart,  without  showing  you  a  fountain  opened  up  for  sin 
and  for  uncleanness ;  and  I  will  not  show  you  the  miseries  of  the 
world  without  pointing  out  the  all-adequate  grace  of  God.  I 
promise  no  immunity  from  tears  in  my  earthly  path ;  but  con- 
solation from  a  sublime  source,  and  revelations  of  a  divine 
sympathy  which  the  believer  will  feel  that  it  was  better  to  have 
had  than  not  to  have  needed." 


May  1. — "  Save  us,  0  God  of  our  salvation." — 1  Chronicles  xvi.  35. 

Thou  art  content  to  be  known  by  this  name,  "  God  of  our 
salvation."  Viewed  in  one  light,  the  thing  seems  an  infinite 
wonder;  in  another  light,  no  wonder.  For  in  the  accom- 
plishment of  our  salvation,  thy  perfections  come  out  in  glorious 
relief,  and  the  whole  creation  finds  itself  unspeakably  aided  in 
the  work  of  making  thee  known.  Let  but  one  of  the  redeemed, 
clothed  in  his  full  salvation,  stand  forth  in  the  universe;  and 
it  will  matter  little  if  the  heaven  and  the  earth  flee  away,  and 
return  no  more.  For  this  redeemed  sinner  is  such  a  monument 
to  the  power,  justice,  wisdom,  truth,  and  love  of  God,  that  no 
finite  being  could  ever  master  the  entire  revelation. 

Thou  hast  devoted  thyself,  0  God  of  our  salvation,  thyself 
and  all  thy  resources,  to  the  work  of  delivering  us  from  all  sin, 
from  all  folly,  from  all  reproach  of  ignorance,  from  all  cor- 
ruption, from  all  misery,  and  from  all  weakness.  Thou  hast 
so  identified  thyself  with  this  work  which  thou  hast  taken  in 
hand,  that  not  to  accomplish  it  would  be  the  extinction  of  thy 
glory.  From  thy  throne  thou  must  save  us  who  have  fled  to 
thee  for  refuge  through  thy  Son;  or  thou  must  quit  that 
throne.  Thou  art  already  known  throughout  all  worlds  as  the 
God  of  our  salvation ;  and  invitations  to  the  marriage  supppr 
of  the  Lamb,  have  been  carried  into  all  parts  of  thy  dominions. 

Save  us,  therefore,  save  us  speedily,  save  us  perFectly,  save 
13  "^ 


150  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

US  from  all  relapse  into  unbelief,  and  from  all  remains  of  un- 
belief; save  us  from  undue  deference  to  the  world;  save  us 
from  errors  of  understanding,  and  from  cheats  of  the  imagina- 
tion; save  us  from  an  inadequate  conception  of  the  Gospel 
standard ;  from  resting  contented  with  our  attainments ;  save 
us  each  day  and  hour  from  the  particular  hindrances  of  each 
day  and  hour.  Save  us  from  letting  go  the  hand  that  was 
pierced  for  us. 

May  2. — "  The  grass  withereth,  the  flower  faileth  ;  but  the  word  of  our 
God  shall  stand  forever." — Isaiah  xl.  8. 

The  contrast  really  intended  here  is  not  between  the  word 
of  God  and  the  grass  of  the  field ;  for  there  are  many  other 
things  to  share  with  Scripture  the  honor  of  out-living  the 
flowers  of  earth.  In  one  sense  the  Bible  resembles  the  grass 
of  the  field ;  if  by  great  efibrts  the  latter  be  rooted  up  and  cast 
into  the  fire,  much  time  will  not  elapse  before  that  same  spot 
is  seen  verdant  again  with  a  new  growth.  And  many  rulers 
have  sought  to  destroy  the  crop  of  Bibles  sown  in  their  do- 
minions, but  have  spent  their  strength  for  nought.  The  con- 
trast is  really  between  man,  his  works  and  his  glory,  and  the 
word  of  God.  Like  grass,  man  shall  wither ;  like  the  flower, 
his  glory  shall  pass  away ;  but  the  word  of  our  God  endurcth 
forever. 

Even  so,  Isaiah !  The  word  of  God  uttered  by  thee  has 
come  down  to  us-  through  twenty-five  troubled  centuries,  se- 
renely riding  out  the  storms  of  every  generation,  and  behold- 
ing the  wreck  of  many  empires.  Whilst  thou  wert  writing 
thine  unnoticed  page,  stupendous  monuments  were  being 
erected  here  and  there  in  the  world ;  but  ruin  has  long  since 
overtaken  these.  During  seventy  generations  the  providence 
of  God  has  steadily  corroborated  thy  statements,  and  shown 
that  the  nations,  before  God,  are  nothing,  less  than  nothing 
and  vanity. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  151 

With  what  avidity  would  men  drink  in  the  intelligence  that 
a  plant  had  been  discovered  whose  fruit  conferred  immortality. 
With  what  a  frantic  joy  would  they  precipitate  themselves  to- 
ward that  stray  plant  of  heaven  found  upon  the  earth.  But 
the  word  of  Grod  really  possesses  and  really  communicates  im- 
mortality. It  endures  forever,  and  he  who  embraces  it  by 
faith,  endures  forever.  It  is  the  word  of  life ;  and  nothing 
shall  by  any  means  harm  them  who  have  made  it  their  own. 
In  the  last  day,  when  there  shall  be  a  terrific  overthrow"  of  the 
pomp,  pride,  and  strength  of  man,  the  word  of  God,  so  oft- 
rejected,  so  much  despised  upon  the  earth,  will  be  seen  upon 
the  throne  of  God,  and  all  the  friends  of  that  word  around 
about  the  throne.  Ye  neologians  and  rationalists,  and  all  who 
have  sought  to  draw  the  pen  of  unhallowed  criticism  through 
this  or  that  text,  how  will  you  stand  confounded  when  you  see 
indestructible  life  and  glory  belonging  to  the  word  of  God. 
You  will  feel  as  though  you  had  been  detected  in  an  attempt 
to  murder  angels,  beings  possessing  the  life  of  heaven. 


May  3. — "  Be  not  dismayed,  for  I  am  thy  God." — Isaiah  xli.  10. 

There  are  many  things  in  this  stage  of  existence  that  are 
calculated  to  fright  the  souls  of  men.  They  are  surrounded 
by  dangers.  There  is  hardly  anything,  no  matter  how  minute 
and  to  all  appearance  contemptible,  but  may  in  some  hour  put 
on  strength  enough  to  kill  us.  Many  a  little  insect  has  taken 
away  the  life  of  proud  man.  We  do  not  know  but  that  the 
breath  we  are  now  breathing  may  convey  some  deadly  disease 
to  our  lungs.  Our  foot  may  slip ;  a  blood-vessel  may  burst ; 
a  stone  may  fall  upon  us ;  we  may  get  up  in  our  sleep  and  fall 
from  a  window ;  a  bone  may  stick  in  our  throat.  Men  are 
dying  in  all  these  ways.  The  people  of  God  have  other  dan- 
gers. They  are  walking  in  a  narrow  path.  The  God  of  this 
world  is  bringing  all  his  cunning  and  all  his  resources  to  bear 


lo2  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

upon  them,  in  efforts  for  tlieir  overthrow.  Terrible  is  the  open 
wrath  of  their  enemy ;  not  less  formidable  the  blandishments 
of  his  disguised  agents.  The  consciousness  of  sinfulness  is 
paralyzing ;  and  the  path  of  duty  seems  adapted  only  for  one 
a  hundred  times  our  superior  in  constancy,  wisdom  and  power. 
And  can  it  be  that  there  is  one  consideration  which  of 
itself  suffices  to  qualify  a  believer  to  look  upon  all  the  ills  that 
cluster  thi,ck  around  his  pathw.y,  and  enables  him  to  go  victo- 
riously onward  to  the  end?  There  is.  God  is  thy  God. 
Thine,  if  thou  hast  believed  upon  his  Son.  His  strength  is 
thine ;  his  wisdom  thine ;  his  resources  are  thine ;  his  vigi- 
lance is  thine ;  his  omniscience  thine.  Not  that  thou  becomest 
omniscient  or  almighty,  but  these  perfections  of  the  Godhead 
are  available  for  thee  to  the  full  extent  of  thy  necessities.  If, 
then,  at  any  time  thou  art  dismayed,  this  is  the  same  as  saying, 
God  is  not  equal  to  the  difficulties  that  environ  me.  I  need 
more  strength  than  he  possesses,  more  wisdom,  more  knowledge. 
I  need  another  God  besides  him.  Oh,  utter  nothing  so  dis- 
honoring to  the  majesty  of  heaven  as  this.  Beware,  and  never 
be  dismayed ! 


May  4. — "  I,  even  I,  am  he  that  blotteth  out  thy  transgressions,  for  my 
own  sake." — Isaiah  xliii.  25. 

This  language,  whether  addressed  to  the  partial  Israel  of 
ancient  times,  or  the  universal  Israel  of  our  times,  is  appro- 
priate only  to  one  who  has  been  awakened  to  a  true  perception 
of  his  transgressions,  and  to  an  earnest,  engrossing  solicitude 
for  pardon.  The  eyes  of  such  a  one  have  been  opened.  In 
every  page  of  the  word  of  God  he  finds  some  chapter  of  his 
own  past  history  coming  up  to  view,  and  exhibiting  itself  to 
him  in  an  aspect  never  before  witnessed.  The  commandments 
seem  to  address  him  by  name ;  the  denunciations  seem  winged 
from  the  throne  of  God  solely  for  him ;  the  promises  shrink 
back  from  him  affrighted.     There  seem  to  be  not  one,  but  ten 


DAILY  :meditatioa"S,  153 

tliousand  condemnations  out  against  him.  Where  in  all  the 
universe  shall  he  find  friends  powerful  enough  and  cordial 
enough  to  come  forward  and  so  plead  that  these  dread  writs 
shall  be  cancelled  ?  Alas !  what  oratory  will  avail  here  ? 
AVhat  cunning  excuses  will  induce  the  Almighty  to  overlook 
the  gui-lt  of  the  sinner  at  the  expense  of  his  own  infinite  per- 
fections ?  The  sinner  may  have  once  imagined  that  it  was  the 
easiest  thing  to  get  clear ;  but  he  now  utterly  contemns  the  help 
of  all  created  beings.  No  eloquence  could  lull  the  storm  of 
self-accusation  within ;  much  less  appease  the  righteous  indig- 
nation of  Him  who  is  greater  than  his  heart.  Ah  yes  !  there 
is  an  eloquence  that  here  availeth ;  but  it  is  that  of  no  created 
being.  God  manifest  in  the  flesh  speaketh  from  the  cross,  in 
words  of  wondrous  healing.  "  I,  even  I,  whose  commandments 
thou  hast  transgressed,  whose  benefits  thou  hast  forgotten,  who 
cast  down  the  angels,  sent  the  deluge,  and  overthrew  Sodom, 
I,  even  I,  am  he  that  blotteth  out  thy  transgressions." 

For  my  oicn  sake.  The  perfections  of  God  which  require 
our  destruction,  in  the  absence  of  an  atonement,  require,  now 
that  Christ  has  died  and  we  have  believed,  our  deliverance 
from  sin  and  misery,  our  elevation  to  glory,  our  everlasting 
felicity.  "  The  Father  is  glorified  in  the  Son.''  Christ  is  glo- 
rified in  us.  For  his  own  sake,  therefore,  he  will  grant  all  that 
we  need.  We  ask  him  as  it  were  to  put  on  glory.  We  ask  him 
to  enrich  himself.  We  ask  him  to  extend  his  kingdom,  perfect 
his  dominion,  put  on  new  lustre  in  the  eyes  of  the  universe. 
This  is  what  we  ask  of  him  when  we  ask  that  our  sins  may  be 
blotted  out.  In  bringing  our  vile  selves  to  God,  we  bring 
something  infinitely  precious.  Angels  could  never  be  able  to 
make  up  any  oflering  comparable  to  this  in  value.  What  is 
tlie  oflfcring  ?  It  is  the  opportunity  of  glorifying  himself  in 
his  Son  and  his  Son  in  us.  But  if  we  pray  unbelievingly, 
we  destroy  the  opportunity ;  we  cast  away  a  pearl  intended  for 
the  diadem  of  God. 


15-i  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

May  5. — "Thou  art  mine," — Isaiali  xliii.  1. 

Once  thou  hadst  other  proprietors.  Sin,  self,  death,  mis- 
ery— these  formerly  boasted  that  thou  wert  theirs.  But  the 
price  I  have  paid  shuts  their  mouths  forever. 

Self  is  slowest  of  all  to  understand  this.  Thou  hast  dis- 
tinctly and  joyfully  recognised  the  transfer  of  thyself  to  me; 
and  yet  again  and  again  have  I  seen  thee  acting  as  though  it 
were  simply  an  agreeable  fiction.  Thou  hast  sometimes  lav- 
ished thine  affections  on  objects  with  which  thou  hadst  no- 
thing properly  to  do.  Thou  hast  given  thyself  to  enterprises 
which  I  had  not  commissioned  thee  to  prosecute.  Thou  hast 
refused  to  go  at  my  bidding,  when  the  sick  waited  for  thee, 
and  the  prisoner  languished.  Thou  hast  suffered  the  hungry 
to  go  unfed,  and  the  mourner  uncomforted  from  thy  door, 
whither  I  had  sent  them^  saying,  "  He  is  mine ;  he  will  help 
thee,  out  of  the  resources  which  I  have  placed  at  his  disposal." 
In  the  day  of  tribulation,  when  it  pleased  thee  to  put  forth  my 
hand  upon  that  which  is  my  own,  didst  thou  not  murmur, 
didst  thou  not  shrink  offended  from  the  rude  encounter  of  my 
providence  ?  What  meaneth  this  ?  Must  my  pleasure,  after 
all,  give  way  to  thy  pleasure?  The  infinite  price  which  I 
have  paid  for  thee,  is  it  merely  that  self  may  sit  upon  a  more 
royal  throne  ?  Nay,  thou  art  mine,  and  I  will  put  thee  in 
whatsoever  chamber  seems  most  expedient  to  me;  the  chamber 
of  sickness,  of  poverty,  of  humiliation,  of  defamation,  of  be- 
reavement, of  death. 

Tliou  art  mine.  Wherefore  I  give  thee  the  Holy  Spirit. 
I  have  appointed  thyself  as  his  habitation  on  the  earth.  I 
sanctify  thee  by  the  truth.  I  bestow  upon  thee  mine  own  im- 
age. I  draw  thy  afi"ections  to  myself;  and  teach  thee  to  love 
the  saints.  I  make  thee  meek  and  lowly.  I  make  thee  meet 
for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light.  Why  should  I  not  ? 
Since  I  have  called  thee  mine,  adopted  thee,  bestowed  on  thee 
the  family  name,  recognised  thee  as  one  of  my  nearest  rela- 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  155 

tions,  surely  tliere  is  nothing-  inappropriate  in  the  gift  to  thee 
of  the  most  abundant  influences  of  the  Spirit.  It  would  be 
strange,  if  I  should  acknowledge  thee  as  my  own,  and  j^et 
leave  thee  to  walk  in  thy  rags,  to  drag  on  a  weary  life,  in  spir- 
itual emaciation. 

Tliou  art  mine.  Wherefore  I  cannot  think  of  leaving  thee 
forever  among  sinners.  A  place  is  prepared  for  thee  by  Him 
that  died  for  thee.  Thou  must  dwell  in  mansions  that  have 
never  known  the  contamination  of  sin.  Angels  must  be  thine 
escort.  Thou  shalt  go  crowned  with  glory,  honor  and  immor- 
tality ;  and  shalt  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament  for- 
ever and  ever.  And  if  any  one  ask,  "  AVho  is  this  that  walk- 
eth  in  "feo  much  state,  and  is  ra'diant  with  so  much  gladness  ? — 
let  this  answer  suffice,  "  That  he  is  mine.  It  is  to  my  glory 
that  all  that  belongeth  to  me  be  glorious  and  blessed/' 


May  6. — "And  beginning  to  sink  he  cried,  Lord,  save  me." — Matthew 
xiv.  30. 

I  thought  myself  to  be  strong  in  faith,  and  rejoiced  in  thy 
command  to  evince  that  strength.  I  thought  I  would  show 
how  much  stronger  my  faith  than  that  of  others ;  and  while 
they  abode  quietly  in  their  vessel,  I  would  tread  the  waters 
beneath  my  feet  and  hasten  unto  Jesus.  I  would  put  away 
from  me  at  least  the  reproach  sometimes  addressed  to  us  disci- 
ples of  being  weak  in  faith.  But  it  was  simple  presumption. 
Now  that  the  waves  lift  up  themselves  around  about  me,  say- 
ing, "  Jesus  we  know,  but  who  art  thou  V  and  threaten  me 
with  the  full  force  of  that  majesty  with  which  God  has  invested 
them,  I  find  my  supposed  faith  vanishing.  Death  himself  has 
seized  me  by  my  feet,  and  is  dragging  me  down  to  a  horrible 
abyss. 

Lord,  save  me !  Higher  than  these  waves  arise  the 
thoughts  of  my  past  folly  and  sinfulness.     A  light  seems  to 


156  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

flash  along  the  multitucriiious  pages  of  i^ast  history,  bringing 
into  strongest  relief  the  instances  of  wa}^wardness,  passion,  self- 
will,  neglect  of  instruction,  pride  and  unbelief.  I  see  myself 
as  I  never  saw  myself;  and  I  see  that  the  light  in  which  I 
now  stand  revealed,  is  the  very  light  in  which  my  Lord  has 
long  sought  to  exhibit  me  to  myself.  I  only  now  am  learn- 
ing a  lesson  that  has  been  held  up  before  me  a  thousand 
times. 

Lord,  save  me,  for  I  sink !  I  acknowledge,  I  feel,  my  help- 
lessness. Thou  mightest,  indeed,  still  keep  thine  eye  fixed  on 
my  past  exhibition  of  independence  towards  God ;  and  instead 
of  my  present  cry,  thou  mightest  justly  hear  former  exclama- 
tions, contemning  salvation.  Oh !  hear  them  not,  remember 
them  not.  In  this  tumult  of  the  waves  it  seems  as  though 
they  were  clamorous,  those  former  utterances  of  an  unbelieving 
and  ungodly  heart ;  clamorous  more  than  ever  to  be  heard  in 
this  very  moment ;  and  as  though  my  poor  present  cry  out  of 
the  depth  could  not  possibly  make  its  way  to  thee.  Neverthe- 
less, save  me.     Save  me  from  going  down  into  the  pit. 

Thou  wilt  say  unto  me  perhaps,  "  If  I  save  thee  in  this 
hour,  what  assurance  have  I  that  thy  former  mind  will  not  re- 
turn to  thee  ?  If  I  pluck  thee  from  this  death,  wilt  thou  not 
soon  be  rushing  again,  in  thy  presumptuous  self-confidence, 
along  the  path  of  death  ?"  Well,  Lord,  thou  must  find  the 
assurance  in  thyself — in  thy  power  not  only  to  save  me  from 
this  horrible  abyss,  but  from  future  dereliction,  from  a  vain 
heart,  from  unbelief  and  self-dependence.     Save  me  from  all. 


May  7. — "  Though  he  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes,  he  heeame  poor." — 
2  Corinthians  viii.  9. 

Worlds,  as  countless  as  the  sands  of  the  sea-shore,  were  his, 
and  innumerable  sovereignties  lay  low  at  his  feet.  Tell  off  the 
sum  of  what  he  renounced,  werld  by  world,  host  by  host,  and 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  157 

a  life  would  not  suffice.  Suppose  the  renunciation  gradual, 
and  watch  it  from  the  throne  of  the  universe.  You  would  see 
the  suns  of  least  magnitude,  the  heavens  of  greatest  distance 
vanishing  one  by  one,  very  rapidly,  from  the  face  of  the  uni- 
verse ;  worlds  of  greater  magnitude  following  them  into  night ; 
great  spaces  would  begin  to  appear  on  the  outskirts  of  crea- 
tion ;  faster  and  faster  the  mighty  dominions  of  God  would  flee 
away  from  the  sceptre  of  the  Son  of  Grod ;  at  length  he  would 
be  left  alone  with  our  system ;  finally,  with  our  earth.  He  is 
yet  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords.  But  now  he  leaves  the 
throne  of  his  glory;  and  infinitely  descending,  shines  for  an 
instant  among  the  archangelic  dignities;  is  presently  seen 
among  cherubim;  then  passes  downward  with  an  expiring 
glory,  through  powers  and  principalities.  Yanishing  from 
the  heavens,  he  is  seen  on  earth,  not  in  the  likeness  of  an  an- 
gel, but  as  a  man.  He  traverses  the  exalted  ranks  of  human- 
ity, and  refuses  to  tarry  in  them ;  nor  does  renunciation  begin 
to  find  its  limits,  until  he  has  found  for  himself  an  abiding 
place  as  a  Nazarene  carpenter,  the  son  of  a  carpenter.  He 
enters  on  his  ministry,  and  has  not  where  to  lay  his  head ;  re- 
ceives with  gratitude  a  cup  of  cold  water ;  is  made  of  so  little 
reputation  that  he  is  accused  of  being  in  league  with  Satan,  is 
denounced  as  a  blasphemer,  and  an  enemy  of  religion. 

Thus  poor  did  he  become.  Wherefore  ?  For  your  sakes. 
That  his  example  might  take  hold  upon  your  consciences,  and 
lead  you  to  follow  in  this  path  of  renunciation.  He  teaches 
70U,  like  him,  to  lay  aside  glory,  honor  and  power,  wealth  and 
comfort.  But  what  glory  have  you,  the  very  dregs  of  creation, 
to  renounce  ?  The  thing  is  this.  In  departing  from  God  you 
have  made  for  yourselves  a  world  of  delusion,  and  constituted 
yourselves  lord  of  that  world.  You  have  put  yourselves  in 
the  place  of  God,  as  the  lawgiver  of  yourselves;  you  have  put 
your  honor  in  the  place  of  God's,  and  desired  to  have  the 
whole  creation  enraptured  with  yourself,  rather  than  God ;  yet 
14 


158  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

were  urgent  to  have  all  things  declare  your  glory,  rather  than 
his.  Renounce  then,  oh  !  renounce  this  usurped  dignity,  and 
the  wealth  that  you  have  chosen  to  call  yours.  Follow  the 
example  of  Christ,  and  become  poor.  This  is  needful  in  order 
that  subsequently,  through  his  poverty,  you  may  be  made  rich. 
You  must  be  changed  into  his  image  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder, 
and  then  shall  you  ascend  it  with  him,  even  the  very  ladder 
by  whose  multitudinous  steps  he  came  from  his  sublime  throne 
to  earth. 

May  8. — "This  poor  man  cried,  and  the  Lord  heard  him." — Psalm 
xxxiv.  6. 

Who  was  this  poor  man  ?  Let  us  see  if  we  can  find  out ;  if 
we  can  ascertain  the  characteristics  of  those  poor  people  whom 
God  so  honorably  mentions  in  his  word. 

Mere  penury  of  worldly  goods  is  not  a  sufficient  title.  He 
must  be  poor  in  spirit — poor  contentedly.  His  must  be  a 
spirit  cheerfully  acquiescent  in  the  allotments  of  God — with 
all  that  he  is  reputed  to  have,  placed  unreservedly  at  his  dis- 
posal 3  sensible  that  he  is  not  even  his  own,  but  bought  with  a 
price ;  his  abilities  and  opportunities,  his  time  and  influence, 
his  soul  and  body,  his  tongue  and  pen,  solemnly  deeded  to 
God.  This  poor  man  has  no  strength  of  his  own.  He  is  poor 
even  in  virtue,  very  poor ;  poor  in  wisdom.  And  so  if  you  lis- 
ten at  his  window,  you  will  find  him  in  the  still  hours,  earn- 
estly laboring  in  prayer  that  he  may  have  given  him  strength, 
virtue  and  wisdom. 

Tins  poor  man  cried^  and  the  Lord  heard  him.  So  the  cry 
of  this  poor  man  is  in  reality  a  key  by  which  he  can  unlock 
treasury  after  treasury  of  things  beyond  all  price. 


May  9. — "In  thy  presence  is  fullness  of  joy." — Psalm  xvi.  11. 
In  the  place  where  there  is  nothing  to  hinder  the  full  per- 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  159 

ception  of  the  glory  of  God,  there  is  fullness  of  joy.  The  most 
we  can  do  in  this  world  is  to  get  a  conception,  faint  at  the 
best,  of  beatific  joy.  As  we  perceive  the  presence  of  him  who 
once  became  manifest  in  our  nature,  loved  us  and  washed  us 
from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood,  we  experience  joy  unspeakable; 
but  we  cannot  describe  our  experience  as  fullness  of  joy,  with 
out  declaring  that  the  company  of  the  ungodly  is  as  blessed  as 
that  of  angels ;  the  sense  of  imperfection  as  sweet  as  that  of 
perfection ;  ignorance  as  good  as  consummate  knowledge ;  lia- 
bility to  temptation  as  enviable  a  state  as  that  of  inviolable 
security.  If  we  have  here  the  presence  of  God,  we  have  here 
also  the  presence  of  a  great  deal  that  is  inimical  to  the  glory 
of  God.  Creation  groans  beneath  this,  and  day  and  night 
crieth  out,  "  How  long,  0  Lord,  how  long  V  It  waits  for  the 
manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God,  which  will  be  the  manifesta- 
tion of  God ;  for  the  descent  of  the  new  Jerusalem,  which  will 
be  the  advent  of  our  expected  Lord ;  for  the  new  heaven  and 
the  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness,  even  the  Lord 
of  righteousness  with  his  righteous  ones.  Then  all  that  now 
prohibits  the  full  revelation  of  the  Redeemer's  glory,  will  have 
been  burnt  up. 

In  that  world  of  perfection  to  which  we  aspire,  our  eyes 
shall  not  be  able  to  light  upon  anything  that  is  not  filled  with 
all  the  fullness  of  God.  All  beings,  all  objects  there,  will  be, 
as  it  were,  reservoirs  charged  with  the  perpetual  fulfilling  of 
our  joy ;  and  nothing  can  be  withdrawn  from  the  cistern  of  our 
experience  without  the  eagerly  proiFered  supplies  of  innumer- 
able fountains.  The  desire  of  Christ,  that  his  joy  may  be  full- 
filled  in  us,  will  there  be  realized.  The  bliss  of  God  himself 
will  be  drunk  in  by  the  infinite  one  whose  name  is  Love, 
through  our  experiences.  Having  the  image  of  God,  we  shall 
have  his  felicity. 


160  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

May  10. — "  Boast  not  thyself  of  to-morrow." — Proverbs  xxvii.  1. 

How  surprising  the  infatuation  of  man,  in  that  while  he 
despises  and  abuses  the  gifts  of  God  actually  bestowed,  he 
makes  sure  of  gifts  to  come.  He  makes  havoc  of  to-day,  as  a 
child  makes  havoc  of  some  valuable  book  fallen  within  its 
reach,  and  confidently  expects  that  there  shall  be  given  to  him 
a  morrow,  and  a  long  series  of  morrows.  While  he,  on  earth, 
is  busy  with  the  transgression  of  Grod's  commands,  and  with 
casting  contempt  on  the  authority  of  God,  God,  in  heaven,  is 
to  be  busy  in  prolonging  the  comfort,  and  giving  all  success  to 
the  unsanctified  purposes  of  this  rebel.  He  calculates  on  the 
subserviency  of  the  elements,  and  even  of  the  Lord  of  the 
elements,  to  his  paltry  will. 

Far  be  this  from  thee,  0  man  of  God !  While  God  is  giving 
one  inestimable  boon,  even  the  present  with  all  its  inherent 
wealth,  snatch  not  thou  another  from  the  throne  of  thy  bene- 
factor. The  only  preparation  for  the  morrow,  is  the  right  use 
of  to-day.  The  stone  in  the  hands  of  the  builder  must  be  put 
in  its  place  and  fitted  to  receive  another.  The  morrow  comes 
for  nought,  if  to-day  is  not  heeded.  Neglect  not  the  call  that 
comes  to  thee  this  day,  the  call  to  humble  thyself  on  account 
of  many  sins  and  follies,  to  break  away  from  unprofitable  ties, 
to  look  upon  the  poor  around  thee,  to  speak  unto  thy  impeni- 
tent neighbor,  to  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness,  to  set 
thy  love  purely  upon  God;  for  such  neglect  is  nothing  else 
than  boasting  thyself  of  to-morrow. 


May  11. — "  Lord,  save  us :  we  perish." — Matthew  viii.  25. 
The  disciples,  we  may  suppose,  had  embarked  with  the  Lord 
Jesus  in  that  vessel,  with  a  feeling  of  great  confidence,  and 
with  the  anticipation  of  a  delightful  sail  over  the  familiar  wa- 
ters of  that  lake.  Upon  that  lake  most  of  them  had  spent 
the  chief  part  of  their  time  from  childhood ;  and  under  almost 
no  circumstances  would  they  be  likely  to  experience  a  feeling 


DAILY   xMEDITATIOXS.  161 

of  fear.  Now  all  things  conspired  to  tr-anquilize  their  spirits. 
Behold  them,  as  the  sun  sinks  over  the  hills  beyond  Capernaum, 
and  a  gentle  breeze  wafts  them  over  the  placid  waters;  they 
are  grouped  here  and  there  upon  the  vessel,  some  communing 
with  the  Lord  Jesus  of  the  works  and  ways  of  God,  others 
relating  to  the  sailors  and  passengers  the  wonderful  things  that 
Christ  had  performed.  The  sun  sets ;  night  steals  quietly  on ; 
the  moon  and  the  stars  appear.  The  Lord  Jesus,  fatigued  with 
special  labors,  lies  down  and  sleeps ;  and  perhaps  the  last  words 
that  visit  his  ear  are  expressions  of  confidence  uttered  by  his 
disciples.  His  human  soul  sleeps,  but  not  the  Divine  Spirit 
that  dwelt  in  him ;  otherwise  the  orbs  of  heaven  would  have 
stood  still,  nay,  the  heaven  and  the  earth  would  have  fled  away, 
and  the  sleep  of  death  seized  upon  all  created  things.  He 
that  keepeth  Israel  sleepeth  not.  Presently  clouds,  black 
clouds,  come  rushing  over  the  face  of  the  sky,  and  a  strange 
sound  is  heard  coming  over  the  waters.  The  sailors  start  up 
in  surprise  and  anxiety.  But  the  disciples  are  heard  saying, 
"  There  is  no  danger ;  Christ  is  on  board ;  he  must  live,  and 
so  we  cannot  die.  He  has  power  over  the  elements ;  they  can- 
not hurt  a  hair  of  our  head."  The  entire  face  of  the  sky  is 
now  shrouded  in  darkness ;  winds  from  various  quarters  rush 
in  quick  succession  down  upon  the  waters ;  these  lift  them- 
selves up  in  mighty  billows ;  the  vessel  becomes  unmanageable ; 
each  wave,  as  it  tosses  her  on  high,  seems  to  say,  "  What  doest 
thou  here,  oh  thou  frail  and  paltry  thing  of  man's  handicraft, 
in  the  presence  of  God's  sublime  agencies  and  ministers? 
What  is  man  but  a  rebel  ?  his  life  but  a  vapor  ?  his  work  but 
vanity  ?  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hand  of  the  liv- 
ing God ;  and  that  hand  is  everywhere."  Desolation  and  an- 
guish take  possession  of  the  souls  of  those  on  board.  The 
mariners  say,  "  Never  did  we  behold  anything  like  this ;  no 
boat  can  outlive  this."  "  But  Jesus  is  on  board,"  timidly  reply 
the  disciples.  "  Be  he  who  he  may,"  say  some,  "  destruction 
14  * 


162  DAILY  :jeditatioxs. 

hath  taken  hold  of  us,  and  there  is  no  possible  deliverance." 
Others  look  at  the  disciples,  saying  to  themselves,  "  If  they 
fear  not,  then  there  is  yet  hope."  But  alas !  they  see  them 
soon  give  way  to  consternation.  As  the  waters  descend  more 
and  more  ponderously  on  the  frail  boat,  their  faith  dies  out. 
They  feel  it  expiring  and  say,  "  We  have  no  faith,  and  there- 
fore we  perish,"  and  immediately  their  faith  expires.  Then 
they  hasten  to  Jesus.     "  Carest  thou  not  that  we  perish  ?" 

Oh !  strangely  tempered  disciples !  Afraid  of  the  winds 
and  waves,  and  yet  not  afraid  to  address  such  a  stigmatizing 
word  as  this  to  the  Lord  Jesus  ?  And  are  all  his  past  works 
and  suffering  in  vain  ?  Do  you  still  doubt  his  care  ?  Jesus 
awakes,  and  the  only  thing  that  he  beholds  is  the  unbelief  of 
his  disciples ;  his  ear  tells  him  not  of  the  fury  and  rack  of 
the  elements,  but  of  the  guilty  fears  of  his  Galilean  friends. 
And  his  first  reproof  is  for  them.  He  lets  the  storm  rage  on 
unrebuked,  until  he  has  rebuked  the  agitation  of  their  souls. 
And  now  they  perceive  that  a  most  precious  opportunity  of 
signalizing  their  faith  in  Christ  had  been  given,  and  given  in 
vain.  The  elements  had  been  let  loose  that  their  faith  might 
gain  a  victory,  and  go  on  to  perfection.  The  progress  of  or- 
dinary months  might  have  been  made  in  an  hour,  had  they 
been  watchful.  When  will  they  understand  that  this  matter 
of  the  education  of  faith  is  the  most  important  thing  going 
on  under  the  sun  ?  The  school  of  faith  is  a  school  in  which 
we  are  advancing,  lesson  by  lesson,  to  a  condition  where  the 
glory  of  God  shall  be  perpetually  revealed  to  the  soul. 


May  12; — "  Althougli  the  fig-tree  shall  not  blossom,  neither  shall  fruit 
be  ill  the  vines ;  the  labor  of  the  olive  shall  fail,  and  the  fields  shall  yield 
no  meat;  the  flock  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  fold,  and  there  shall  be  no 
herd  in  the  stalls :  yet  I  will  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  I  will  joy  in  the  God  of 
my  salvation." — Habakkuk  iii.  17,  18. 

This  is  a  noble  utterance,  Ilabiikkuk  !     Thou  hast  surely 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  163 

read  the  book  of  Job,  and  art  eclioing  tbat  great  word  of  his 
— "  Tliougli  the  Lord  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him."  Thou 
believest  that  the  love  which  Grod  has  towards  us,  rests  upon 
some  more  solid  evidence  than  the  temporal  benefits  which  he 
bestows  upon  us ;  upon  evidence  so  satisfactory,  so  unimpeach- 
able, that  even  if  the  greatly-prosjfered  servant  of  God  saw 
his  flocks  and  herds  rapidly  perish,  his  merchandize  carried 
off  by  robbers  or  consumed  by  fire,  his  houses  and  lands  con- 
fiscated by  unjust  power,  his  gold  and  silver  fraudulently  taken 
from  him,  his  friends  alienated,  his  name  beclouded,  his  person 
imprisoned,  his  health  impaired,  his  appetite  vitiated,  his  sight 
extinguished,  his  utterance  impeded,  he  would  still  have  occa- 
sions of  undying  and  fervent  gratitude,  motives  for  joy  un- 
speakable, a  foundation  for  peace  which  passeth  all  under- 
standing. 

Thanks  be  unto  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne  for  the 
innumerable  avenues  by  which  the  expressions  of  his  goodness 
come  to  us ;  but  oh,  while  we  adore  him  for  these,  let  us  feel 
that  he  has  placed  the  great  truth  of  his  love  toward  us  sin- 
ners, once  for  all,  upon  an  inviolable  basis ;  so  that  though  the 
day,  as  it  passes,  may  or  may  not  have  particular  tokens  of 
his  goodness  to  impart,  that  goodness  can  in  no  wise  be  ques- 
tioned. 

It  is  most  likely,  0  Habakkuk,  that  God  took  thee  at  thy 
word ;  and  in  some  surprising  way  gave  thee  an  opportunity 
of  evincing  thy  singleness  of  heart  toward  him ;  and  that  thou 
now  wearest  some  peculiar  crown  of  honor  and  felicity  in  con- 
sequence of  that  proof  given. 


May  13, — "  I  am  the  light  of  the  world." — John  viii.  12. 

What  a  wonderful  consciousness  was  this  for  one  that  saw 
his  life  gliding  rapidly  away  in  an  obscure  corner  of  the  world, 
among  a  despised  class  of  persons,  and  knew  that  a  cross  was 


164  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

prepared  for  him  at  the  capital.  Knowing  that  the  light  of 
life  is  to  go  forth  from  him,  from  him  alone,  to  all  nations, 
peoples,  and  languages,  how  admirable  is  the  quiet,  unhasting 
humility  that  enables  him  to  sit  down  among  the  poorest  and 
meanest  of  earth,  occupy  himself  with  all  their  cares  and  so- 
licitudes, heal  their  diseasei,  correct  their  errors,  embrace  their 
infant  children,  partake  of  their  humble  meals,  and  listen  in 
their  synagogues  !  He  knew  that  he  was  to  be  the  sun  of  all 
the  world,  bathe  the  continents  in  light,  and  create  new  heavens 
and  new  earth  for  the  more  effectual  manifestation  of  his  un- 
imagined  glory.  Yet  he  could  converse  in  a  strain  of  perfect 
tranquility  with  the  Samaritan  woman  at  the  well,  and  could 
go  about  Jerusalem  looking  for  the  poor  man  whom  the -Phar- 
isees had  put  out  of  the  synagogue. 

This  is  something  that  should  never  be  forgotten  when  we 
read  the  Grospel ;  and  the  wonder  is  that  it  does  not  more  at- 
tract the  attention  of  men.  The  evidence  of  Christ's  humility 
and  contentedness  of  spirit,  rests  upon  the  surest  foundation ; 
all  his  actions  and  his  mode  of  life  declare  that  he  was  at  home 
among  the  poor  and  needy  of  earth,  and  sought  not  great  things 
for  himself;  but  there  drop  from  his  lips  at  times,  expressions 
that  indicate  the  perfect  and  abiding  consciousness  that  he  is 
to  sit  down  upon  the  throne  of  this  world,  and  fill  it  with  the 
effulgence  beaming  from  his  countenance.  Before  the  high 
priest  and  Pilate  he  was  as  a  lamb  led  to  the  slaughter,  and  as 
a  sheep  before  her  shearers  is  dumb  so  he  opened  not  his 
mouth ;  and  it  was  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  they 
could  force  him  once  to  speak  and  to  disclose  the  sublime  con- 
sciousness that  was  in  him,  by  a  reference  to  his  future  coming 
in  the  clouds  of  heaven  and  in  the  glory  of  God,  to  take  com- 
plete possession  of  the  world. 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  165 

May  14. — "He  hath  not  despised  nor  abhorred  the  affliction  of  the  af- 
flicted."—Psalm  xxii.  24. 

This  is  said  with  reference  to  the  allegations  of  the  men 
who  stood  around  the  cross  of  Christ.  They  affirmed  that 
God  evidently  despised  the  sufferer,  and  so  far  from  sympa- 
thizing with  him  in  his  affliction,  abhorred  him  as  a  deceiver, 
and  was  glad  to  have  men  execute  their  indignation  with  un- 
chastened  severity.  "It  is  beyond  all  question,"  said  they, 
"  that  the  Lord  is  against  him.  He  has  delivered  him  into 
our  hands,  notwithstanding  all  the  reluctance  of  Pilate  and 
the  attachment  of  his  disciples ',  and  in  every  way  is  aiding 
us  to  fill  the  cup  of  his  anguish  and  to  pour  contempt  upon 
him.  The  Lord  himself  is  smiting  him ;  and  we  are  simply 
falling  in  with  the  current  of  his  providences." 

Often,  most  often,  the  same  language  has  been  used  by  the 
persecutors  of  Christ's  people.  They  have  averred  that  God 
was  delivering  these  into  their  hands  to  be  tormented,  impri- 
soned, defamed,  and  burnt.  God  brought  forth  in  due  time 
the  evidence  that  he  had  not  despised  nor  abhorred  the  afflic- 
tion of  that  afflicted  one.  There  was  evidence  abundant  in 
the  character,  the  words,  and  works  of  Christ  that  God  could 
not  be  indifferent  to  his  sufferings ;  but  a  carnal  world  could 
not  see  this  evidence.  By  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  the  bap- 
tism of  the  Apostles,  the  love  of  the  Church,  and  the  spread 
of  the  Gospel,  evidence  of  an  imposing  kind  has  been  given 
The  experience  of  every  sinner  that  believes  on  Christ,  from 
its  beginning  onward  through  eternity,  teems  with  evidence 
that  the  Father  sympathized  with  the  sufferer  of  Calvary. 
Every  instance  of  a  fulfilled  promise,  repeats  this  evidence. 


Mat  15. — "Who  is  a  God  like  unto  thee,  that  pardoneth  iniquity?'* — 
Micah  vii.  18. 

There  is  a  little  flock  who  are  acquainted  with  God ;  are  so 


166  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

far  acquainted  witli  his  essential  perfections,  and  see  so  much 
of  his  glory  in  Christ,  that  God  is  not  ashamed  to  be  known 
as  their  God,  and  to  have  it  understood  among  the  angels  of 
heaven  that  the  members  of  this  flock  do  know  him.  But 
viewing  these  as  exceptional,  innumerable  conceptions  of  God 
possess  the  minds  of  men ;  to  express  it  otherwise,  innumera- 
ble gods  of,  widely  different  characters  exist  in  the  conceptions 
of  men,  and  frown  upon  the  only  true  God.  "  0  righteous 
Father,  the  world  hath  not  known  thee,"  said  Christ;  but  the 
world  angrily  asserts  that  it  knows  him  very  well.  Every 
natural  man  has  his  deity,  whom  he  prefers  to  the  God  of  the 
Bible ;  and  conversion  is  just  consenting  that  the  true  God 
shall  be  God,  and  the  god  of  one's  fancy  be  annihilated.  Men 
have  the  highest  idea  of  their  own  faculty  of  bodying  forth 
the  true  God,  and  look  with  proud  disdain  upon  what  seem  to 
them  the  bungling  attempts  of  Scripture.  One  boasts  that 
his  God  has  made  no  decrees  concerning  the  salvation  of  par- 
ticular persons.  Another  that  his  God  saves  all  that  are  bap- 
tized. Another  that  his  God  finds  much  merit  in  man.  The 
God  of  another  will  actually  save  all. 

But  almost  all  these  gods  of  men's  devising,  agree  in  one 
respect.  They  make  light  of  man's  iniquity.  They  entertain 
no  sterner  view  of  it  than  man  himself,  man  the  sinner,  ordi- 
narily entertains.  Of  course  they  are  ready  to  forgive  it;  for 
it  is  a  light  thing. 

When,  however,  men  begin  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  true  God,  then  their  iniquity  rises  from  its  tomb  in  all  its 
dread  proportions,  and  the  dread  spectre  lifts  its  head  to  the 
skies,  stretches  out  its  hands  to  the  East  and  to  the  West, 
blots  out  creation  from  their  view,  and  bids  them  come  with  it 
to  the  lake  that  burneth  with  fire  and  brimstone.  Their  for- 
mer God  is  fled  into  everlasting  night;  and  all  their  for- 
mer conceptions  of  divine  grace,  though  multiplied  a  million 
times,  would  fiill  short  of  that  grace  which  they  now  see  to  be 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  167 

required.  Wtat  shall  they  "do?  Perish?  No,  says  God; 
look  unto  the  cross,  kno\7  my  grace,  and  live.  Then  from  an 
amazed  heart  cometh  the  ejaculation,  Who  is  a  God  like  unto 
thee,  that  pardoneth  iniquity  ? 


May  16. — "Everj'good  gift  and  every  perfect  gift  is  from  above." — 
James  i.  17. 

Temptation  is  not  of  God.  What  constitutes  a  thing  tempt- 
ing is  something  in  the  man  or  woman  that  looks  upon  it, 
namely,  a  disposition  more  or  less  active  to  transgress,  and  take 
what  is  forbidden.  The  fruit  is  suspended  on  the  tree  for  an 
admirable  purpose ;  namely  that  men  may  have  an  opportunity 
of  evincing  their  fidelity  towards  God,  and  thus  may  obtain  a 
crown  of  life.  The  same  thing  is  to  one  man  a  temptation,  to 
another  a  good  gift  of  God,  by  means  of  which  his  walk  of 
righteousness  is  made  more  steadfast  and  honorable.  What- 
ever cometh  down  from  above  is  good,  unexceptionably  good ; 
whatever  evil  thing  exists,  it  has  its  origin  elsewhere.  Sin  is 
the  devourer  of  the  gifts  of  God,  and  the  uncompromising 
enemy  of  his  beneficence. 

It  is  not  enough  that  God  has  created  a  thing.  Has  he 
given  it  to  you,  to  me,  is  the  question.  His  gifts  are  perfect — 
that  is,  all  their  tendencies  are  good.  And  if  we  find  some  of 
the  tendencies  of  certain  things  are  not  good,  we  may  conclude 
that  this  is  not  one  of  God's  gifts  to  us. 

But  all  gifts  are  useless,  if  we  have  not  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  By  this  we  are  enabled  rightly  to  judge  of  other 
things  called  gifts,  and  to  know  which  are  really  sent  us  from 
above.  Without  this  we  know  not  the  proper  use  of  anything, 
and  are  sure  to  appropriate  heaven's  bounties  to  inferior  ends. 
We  are  to  covet  earnestly  the  best  gifts.  We  are  often  per- 
mitted to  make  our  choice  among  the  collections  of  precious 
things  on  exhibition  around  us.     Now,  the  wise  man  will  say, 


168  DAILY  MEDITATIONS. 

These  are  all  very  good,  but  tlie  blessing  connected  with  each 
one  depends  upon  the  character  of  the  chooser  and  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  it  is  to  be  used ;  I  need  to  know  which 
among  all  these  will  be  of  highest  profit  to  me ',  and  this  by 
my  own  wisdom  I  cannot  know ;  wherefore  I  ask  God  to  tell 
me  which  is  the  perfect  gift  designed  for  me. 

Innumerable  objects  of  luxury  attract  the  attention  even  of 
the  Christian,  in  this  day;  and  he  is  ready  to  say,  "  My  Father 
hath  bestowed  these ;  let  me  take  them  in  all  gratitude."  But 
first  ask  thy  Father,  if  these  be  the  best,  the  perfect  gifts ;  if 
thy  circumstances  and  thy  profession  make  these  most  de- 
sirable. 


May  17. — "As  many  as  I  love,  I  rebuke  and  chasten;  be  zealous  there- 
fore and  repent.  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock :  if  any  n?an  hear 
my  voice  and  open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  to  him  and  will  sup  with 
him  and  he  with  me." — Eevelation  iii.  19,  20. 

As  many  as  I  love.  Is  this  the  voice  which  has  just  been 
giving  expression  to  such  intensity  of  holy  disgust?  "Well 
may  we  marvel  at  the  modulations  of  which  it  is  susceptible. 
Ah,  if  there  had  not  been  love  somewhere  in  thy  heart,  thou 
wouldst  not  have  threatened  the  Laodiceans  with  ignominious 
ejection,  but  wouldst  have  cast  them  forth  without  any  words  of 
condescending  reproach.  Thou  sawest  how  that  confusion  and 
alarm  were  being  borne  by  thy  words  to  their  hearts,  and  how 
they  began  to  exclaim,  "  Whither  shall  we  flee  from  his  pres- 
ence? Who  shall  stand  before  him?  For  the  day  of  his 
wrath  is  come."  Thy  words  were  mighty  to  tear  down  the 
palace  of  delight  in  which  they  had  enshrined  themselves ;  to 
tear  it  down  for  some  at  least.  Even  among  these  Laodiceans 
were  some  who  had  no  idea  of  parting  with  Christ ;  and  who, 
as  soon  as  they  saw  that  they  had  been  building  for  themselves 
an  edifice  that  Christ  approved  not,  looked  upon  it  with  detes- 
tation, and   loathed   themselves   for   their   inconsiderateness ; 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  169 

tliey  were  appalled  at  the  thought  that  Christ  had  perhaps 
had  enough  of  them  and  had  cast  them  clean  off  forever.  So 
powerfully  indeed  was  this  view  impressed  upon  them  by  the 
discovery  of  their  folly,  that  they  were  fast  giving  way  to  a 
conviction  that  hope  and  they  had  parted  company  eternally. 
But  the  Saviour  draws  them  from  the  brink  of  despair  with 
the  cords  of  love.  "  As  many  as  I  love,  I  rebuke  and  chasten  ; 
be  zealous,  therefore,  and  repent." 

Knowing  the  terrors  of  the  Lord,  we  persuade  men :  The 
love  of  Christ  constraineth  us.  To  those  that  are  lukewarm, 
both  the  language  of  stern  rebuke  and  the  language  of  encour- 
agement are  necessary.  Without  experience  of  his  indigna- 
tion, they  will  derive  no  profit  from  the  exhibition  of  his  love. 
Too  many  churches,  perhaps,  derive  no  benefit  from  the 
preaching  of  Christ's  love ;  from  week  to  week,  and  from  year 
to  year,  they  only  sink  deeper  in  their  spiritual  apathy.  They 
need  to  be  brought  acquainted  with  Christ's  glance  of  fire,  and 
to  get  their  own  indignation  against  themselves  kindled  by  his 
indignation.  There  is  nothing  like  the  mingled  indignation 
and  love  of  the  Saviour,  for  inspiring  the  soul  with  a  genuine 
zeal  to  do  his  will.  The  indignation  does  not  diminish  the 
love,  for  it  is  the  indignation  of  love,  of  wounded  love.  And 
when  the  heart  has  begun  to  burn  with  a  steady  zeal,  then  the 
indignation  may  withdraw  into  the  past,  and  be  looked  at  by 
memory,  and  the  soul's  uninterrupted  experience  be  of  love. 

Well  for  us,  if  we  allow  ourselves  to  hear  the  chastening  re- 
buke of  Christ  contained  in  his  word,  and  do  not  constrain  him 
to  clothe  it  in  afflictive  providences.  Let  us  beware  how  we 
hide  our  conscience  from  the  light  of  any  portion  of  God's 
truth.  At  the  door  of  many  how  long  does  Jesus  stand  and 
knock,  while  they  hear  not.  They  read,  from  time  to  time, 
the  very  words  which  express  his  deep  dissatisfaction  with  the 
iniquity  which  they  are  regarding  in  their  hearts ;  read,  hear, 
but  never  discern  the  voice  of  Christ  addressed  to  themselves. 

15 


170  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

When  in  a  rougher  fashion  he  at  length  knocks  at  their  door, 
they  become  aware  that  such  a  forcible  appeal  has  been  made 
necessary  by  their  strange  and  long-protracted  spiritual  deaf- 
ness. 

It  is  the  office  of  conscience  to  rebuke.  It  does  this,  not  as 
the  enemy  of  the  soul,  but  as  the  guardian  of  the  soul's  highest 
interests.  It  has,  however,  participated  in  the  general  ruin  of 
our  nature ;  and  seldom  speaks  as  the  sincere  servant  of  truth. 
But  Christ  is  formed  in  us  the  hope  of  glory.  Our  conscience 
puts  on  Christ.  The  great  need  of  the  Christian  is,  that 
Christ  and  his  conscience  should  be  identified ;  that  the  rebuke 
of  his  conscience  may  ever  be  the  rebuke  of  Christ.  To  this 
end  let  him  give  utmost  heed  to  such  rebukes ;  and  by  cords 
of  love  enchain  his  whole  nature  to  the  new  Christ-conscience 
coming  forth  from  the  sepulchre  of  his  dead  nature. 


May  18. — "  He  will  subdue  our  iniquities." — Micah  vii.  19. 

Having  had  a  taste  of  the  power  of  these  our  enemies,  we 
look  disconsolately  around,  much  desiring,  but  little  hoping, 
that  a  deliverer  may  appear.  We  discover  some,  perhaps,  who 
excel  in  virtue.  But  we  see  at  once  that  they  can  never  med- 
icine us  to  that  sweet  peace  which  they  themselves  possess. 
They  may  instruct;  but  we  need  something  more  than  instruc- 
tion ;  there  is  that  within  us  which  laughs  at  instruction,  hu- 
man or  divine.  If  some  angels  would  only  come  and  tarry 
with  us  for  a  season ;  but  alas !  they  would  stand  for  a  moment 
aghast,  and  then  spread  their  swiftest  wings  for  the  regions 
where  Grod  reigns.  They  may  sustain  the  believer,  so  that  he 
dash  not  his  foot  against  a  stone,  but  they  have  no  power  ade- 
quate for  the  creation  of  a  believer  out  of  an  unbeliever.  Cre- 
ation ! — this  is  the  word — to  be  taken  to  pieces,  as  it  were ;  re- 
duced to  nothingness,  and  then  made  to  live,  a  new  creature. 

This  is  no  mere  speculation.     The  Creator  consents  to  ere- 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  171 

He  takes  us  to  tlie  cross,  and  lifting  up  his 
hand  to  heaven,  swears  that  if  we  consent  to  die  there,  we  shall 
surely  live  there,  and  our  new  life  shall  be  the  participated  life 
of  Him  who  knew  no  sin.  We  shall  rise  in  the  image  of  God. 
If  we  have  boldness  to  be  crucified  with  Christ,  happy  are  we. 

He  subdues  our  iniquities,  then,  by  making  us  despair  of 
ever  subduing  them  ourselves. — By  pointing  out  to  us  some 
trophies  of  his  power,  some  incorrigible  Peters,  some  wrathful 
Pauls,  who  have  been  emancipated  by  his  act. — By  convincing 
us  of  his  willingness  to  take  our  foes  in  hand. — By  giving  us  a 
conception  of  his  marvelous  love  shown  to  sinners,  in  the  sur- 
render of  his  only-begotten. — By  giving  us,  through  faith,  a 
heavenly  experience  of  that  love.  We  feast  upon  it,  and  our 
enemies  are  not.     They  are  gone  without  a  battle. 

Why  should  there  ever  be  anything  more  ?  The  enemies 
flee  far  and  fast :  one,  however,  remains  crouching  in  the  dark, 
unseen — mutability;  and  in  due  time  the  others  return,  hoping 
that  their  friend  may  have  an  opportunity  of  re-admitting 
them.  Then  there  are  sad  conflicts;  and  we  wonder  if,  after 
all,  our  iniquities  are  to  abide  unsubdued.  We  learn  eventu- 
ally that  before  their  absolute  subjugation,  it  is  in  many  re- 
spects necessary  that  we  should  have  an  accurate  acquaintance 
with  them,  an  utter  detestation  of  them,  a  most  watchful  habit 
of  faith  with  respect  to  them.  We  learn,  in  fact,  that  the  per- 
petuity of  salvation  is  connected  with  the  perpetuity  of  faith. 
It  is  merely  because  of  the  imperfection  and  slumber  of  faith 
that  they  ever  venture  to  re-appear.  They  know  very  well 
that  we  have  no  more  of  Grod  than  we  have  of  faith. 


May  19. — "  The  Lord  is  slow  to  anger  and  great  in  power,  and  will  not 
at  all  acquit  the  wicked." — Nahuiu  i.  3. 

Because  the  Lord  is  slow  to  anger,  men  suppose  that  they 
have  nothing  to  apprehend  from  his  anger.     But,  indeed,  his 


172  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

anger  is  only  the  more  terrible,  because  it  is  slow.  He  is  slow 
to  anger ;  this  sliows  tliat  his  anger  is  something  different  from 
what  we  call  anger.  It  is  not  an  impulse ;  but  moves  with  the 
utmost  possible  deliberation. 

It  would  be  of  the  greatest  advantage  to  men  if  they  would 
just  take  knowledge  that  the  goodness  of  God  expressed  in 
the  innumerable  gifts  of  Providence  that  strew  their  paths,  is 
not  complacency,  but  suspended  wrath.  They  lie  down  and 
sleep ;  in  the  morning  they  awake,  give  a  careless  thought  to 
the  circumstance  that  Grod  has  watched  over  them,  and  go 
their  way.  They  embark  in  many  enterprises,  and  meet  with 
success.  Comforts,  honors,  advantages,  pour  in  from  many 
quarters.  Why  ?  The  reason  is,  say  they,  that  God  is  well 
pleased  with  us.  The  question  then  arises,  '^  Who  is  this  God 
that  daily  fetches  out  of  his  treasury  things,  new  and  old,  to 
bestow  on  hoary-headed  sinners,  whose  life  is  dedicated  to  in- 
iquity ?  What  are  we  to  think  of  a  God  who  pays  the  salaries 
of  the  servants  of  Satan,  and  affords  them  facilities  for  doing 
his  infamous  will  ?"  You  know  not  God.  He  bestows  upon 
you  providential  kindnesses,  because  he  would  attract  you  to 
his  kingdom  against  which  you  are  now  in  revolt ;  because  he 
would  have  you  hear  the  word  of  his  grace,  and  escape  the  up- 
lifted bolt  of  his  vengeance.  He  prolongs  the  day  of  mercy, 
because  he  knows  there  is  for  you  a  lake  of  unquenchable  fire, 
an  eternity  of  woe. 

It  would  be  a  fearful  impeachment  of  the  power  of  God,  if 
the  sinner,  abiding  in  transgression,  should  after  all  come  off 
victorious.  Transgression  is  the  assumption  of  power  greater 
than  that  of  God.  Weak  and  contemptible  is  that  legislator 
whose  laws  may  be  broken  with  impunity.  Better  a  thousand 
times  that  he  should  make  no  laws  at  all.  The  sinner  now  for 
a  while  cajoles  himself  with  the  idea  that  he  is  greater  than 
God;  that  he  can  contemn  the  commandments  of  God.  But 
God  is  as  great  in  power  as  he  is  in  long-suffering;   and  tho 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  173 

imagined  victory  of  man  ohly  prepares  the  way  for  the  sub- 
limer  victory  of  God. 


May  20. — ''  I  am  the  good  Bhepherd,  and  know  my  sheep." — John  x.  14, 

Thou  art  indeed  the  good  shepherd ;  but  we  must  acknow- 
ledge that  there  often  appears  in  us  something  that  looks  very 
much  like  a  denial  of  this  truth.  Believing  thee  to  be  the 
good  shepherd,  why  are  we  sometimes  so  slow  to  follow  thee  ? 
Why  do  we  ever  doubt  that  thy  commandments  are  better 
than  our  own  conceits?  Why  murmur  at  the  ruggedness  of 
thy  path  ?  Why  look  with  wistful  eyes  at  the  pastures  which 
thou  forbiddest  ?  We  name  thee  the  good  shepherd ;  but  is 
there  not  some  hypocrisy  in  the  joy  with  which  we  do  it? 
The  words  are  familiar  to  our  lips ;  but  our  lives  bear  an  am- 
biguous testimony. 

If  an  enemy  should  overcome  us,  take  away  our  armor  in 
which  we  trusted,  and  command  us  to  follow  him ;  fear  might 
constrain  us  to  do  so ;  but  we  should  take  every  opportunity 
of  lagging  behind ;  we  should  follow  afar  off;  we  should  be 
ever  glancing  to  the  right  hand  and  to  the  left  in  search  of 
some  solace ;  we  should  go  as  far  as  we  dared  in  by-paths ;  we 
should  look  wistfully  to  the  sunny  fields  of  liberty  in  the  dis- 
tance ;  we  should  go  slowly  when  our  enemy  called ;  we  should 
do  sullenly  what  he  commanded.  Has  Christ  any  such  disci- 
ples ?  Will  he  trouble  himself  long  with  those  who  cleave  to 
him  chiefly  through  fear  ?  These  are  the  greatest  reproach  to 
him.  They  stigmatize  him  fearfully.  Whatever  their  mouth 
may  say,  their  conduct  asserts  him  to  be  the  bad  shepherd. 

Let  me  honor  thee,  0  Lord,  and  in  all  my  ways  proclaim 
thee  the  good  shepherd,  by  doing  cheerfully  all  thy  will,  not 
setting  aside  those  precepts  of  the  Gospel  that  have  fallen  into 
disuse  in  the  Church,  but  ever  acting  upon  the  conviction  that 
each  jot  and  tittle  of  what  thou  hast  uttered  has  a  relation  to 

15* 


174  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

my  well-being  as  intimate  as  the  breath  that  visits  my  lungs 
Whatever  others  may  do,  let  me  not  pretend  to  know  myself 
better  than  thou  knowest  me ;  by  supposing  that  thou  hast 
verrated  my  capacity  in  the  tasks  thou  hast  assigned,  or  un- 
errated  my  necessity  in  the  good  things  thou  hast  bestowed, 
or  ignored  my  urgency  when  the  answer  to  prayer  is  long  de- 
layed. 

May  21. — "The  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the  glory 
of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea." — Habakkuk  ii.  14. 

The  world  with  all  its  wisdom  has  not  yet  reached  the  plat- 
form where  this  humble  servant  of  God  stood  more  than  two 
thousand  years  ago.  But  indeed,  others  had  stood  there  before 
him.  Isaiah  had  stood  there  and  heard  the  song  of  the  ser- 
aphim. Moses  had  stood  there  nearly  a  thousand  years  before, 
and  heard  the  asseveration  of  the  divine  majesty,  "  As  I  live, 
all  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  my  glory."  It  is  the  fashion 
with  many  to  despise  the  stand-point  of  the  ancient  Israelites ; 
nevertheless,  it  was  the  stand-point  from  which  a  number  of 
them  were  permitted  to  see  more  of  the  future  condition  of 
the  nations  of  the  earth  than  the  most  sagacious  politician  is 
yet  able  to  see. 

What  an  idea  of  fulness  does  the  contemplation  of  the  sea 
convey  to  us !  The  basin  of  the  sea  is  full.  A  very  little 
added  would  cause  a  multitude  of  isles  to  disappear.  The 
earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fulness  thereof.  All  his  works 
show  forth  his  glory ;  and  a  long  life  might  be  spent  in  tracing 
a  little  leaf  through  all  the  ramifications  of  its  eloquent  his- 
tory. But  the  Grospel  is  being  published ;  and  thousands  of 
tongues  are  telling  in  many,  many  languages,  the  length  and 
breadth,  the  depth  and  height  of  God's  immeasurable  love  in 
Christ.  Still  the  whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in 
pain;  and  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  perpetually  exclaim, 
"  How  long,   0   Lord,  how  long  ?"      The  voices  of  the  old 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  175 

prophets  assure  us  that  a  race  shall  tread  this  earth  in  the 
latter  days,  whose  eye  shall  have  been  anointed  with  eye  salve 
to  behold  the  full  glory  of  God  as  it  shines  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  to  perceive  the  word  "  Bethel"  written  upon  the 
face  of  universal  nature.  Every  tree  shall  be  to  them  a  pillar 
in  the  temple  of  God;  and  every  stone  shall  have  written  on 
it  the  ineffable  name  of  God,  The  mountains  shall  bring 
peace,  and  the  little  hills  shall  yield  joyously  their  contribu- 
tions to  the  world-wide  righteousness. 

In  this  view  a  great  interest  attaches  to  this  earth  of  ours, 
even  to  every  particular  locality  of  it.  Concerning  every  place 
that  we  may  visit,  we  have  the  assurance  that  a  time  will  come 
when  the  redeemed  shall  walk  there  and  hearken  diligently  to 
its  song  of  emancipation,  to  its  praises  of  God  and  the  Lamb. 
We  know,  indeed,  that  sin  and  the  works  and  memorials  of 
sin  are  to  be  burnt  out  of  the  earth.  We  know,  also,  that  our 
bodies  shall  sleep  in  dust  and  arise  glorious.  The  resurrection 
of  Christ  is  not  only  the  guarantee  of  our  resurrection,  but 
of  that  of  the  material  world  which  was  made  by  him,  and 
for  him. 

May  22. — "  The  Lord  thy  God  in  the  midst  of  thee  is  mighty." — Zepha- 
niah  iii.  17. 

jMost  pitiable  was  the  condition  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt. 
Pharaoh  seemed  to  delight  in  eliciting  the  most  incredible 
proofs  of  their  subjection  to  his  rod.  There  is  ordinarily  a 
limit  beyond  which  masters  dare  not  go  in  trifling  with  the 
lives  and  feelings  of  even  the  most  abject  slaves;  but  there 
seemed  to  be  no  limit  to  Pharaoh's  power  to  oppress.  The 
sacred  sentiment  of  paternity  he  trampled  on ;  and  seemed  to 
feel  that  the  Israelites  were  the  very  impersonation  of  help- 
lessness. But  soon  it  appeared  that  the  Lord  was  in  the  midst 
of  this  despised  people,  mighty  to  save ;  and  with  such  exhi- 
bitions of  might  and  majesty  as  never  had  accompanied  the 


176  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

movements  of  any  other  people,  tliey  went  forth  from  the 
presence  of  their  oppressors. 

The  Church  of  Christ  is  an  habitation  of  God  through  the 
Spirit.  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  said  Jesus.  We  know  how 
mighty  he  was  in  the  midst  of  his  disciples.  After  a  lapse  of 
many  years  he  appeared  to  John,  and  told  him  to  reveal  him  to 
the  churches  as  walking  in  the  midst  of  the  golden  candle- 
sticks. He  is  in  the  midst  of  us,  mighty  to  save.  Nothing 
of  his  might  has  been  lost  to  the  Church.  It  was  expedient 
for  us  that  he  should  go  from  earth  in  body,  and  be  present 
with  us  in  spirit.  We  lost  nothing  by  this  arrangement.  We 
may  therefore  calculate  on  a  manifestation  of  glory  and  of 
power  not  by  any  means  inferior  to  those  that  render  lustrous 
the  pages  of  sacred  history.  Let  us  only  be  careful  to  put 
far  away  all  insignia  of  our  own  power  and  glory ;  and  what 
may  we  not  expect ! 

But  alas  !  what  do  we  expect  ?  Do  we  expect  some  sublime 
revelations  of  might  in  the  wa}^  of  subduing  our  selfishness, 
worldliness,  passion,  pride  ?  Are  we  looking  for  divine  might 
to  disclose  itself  in  connection  with  our  efi'orts  for  the  good  of 
men  ?  Are  we  rivalling  Elijah  in  faith,  Moses  in  meekness 
and  zeal.  Job  in  patience,  Paul  in  earnestness,  John  in  spiritu- 
ality ?  Are  we  seeking  to  be  holy  as  God  is  holy  ?  Why  not, 
if  the  Lord  be  in  the  midst  of  us,  mighty  to  save. 


May  23.—  "  They  shall  look  upon  me  whom  they  have  pierced,  and  they 
shall  mourn." — Zechariah  xii.  10. 

.  Think  not  that  they  who  were  personally  concerned  in  the 
crucifixon  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  were  sinners  above  all  the 
sinners  of  the  world.  Christ  on  the  cross,  the  righteous  Ad- 
vocate, was  able  to  find  something  extenuating  in  their  con- 
duct. "  They  know  not  what  they  do."  Afterwards,  when 
they  saw  what  they  had   done,  when  the  Spirit  of  Pentecost 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  177 

made  him  known  as  tlie  Prince  of  life,  many  of  them  repented 
of  their  sin,  and  made  haste  to  believe  upon  him.  The  mea- 
sure of  knowledge  is  lui  important  element  in  determining  the 
measure  of  sin.  The  lucasure  of  the  means  of  knowing,  let  us 
say  rather.  There  are  thousands  who  ^re  every  day  guilty  of 
conduct  as  odious  in  the  sight  of  heaven  as  that  of  the  parties 
who  nailed  Christ  to  the  cross,  and  thrust  a  spear  into  his  side. 
These  indeed,  were  mere  Roman  soldiers,  having  no  personal 
animosity  to  Christ,  whose  language  even  they  did  not  under- 
stand ;  the  guilty  parties  of  that  scene  did  not  themselves  lift 
a  finger  against  Christ.  And  their  guilt  falls  immeasurably 
short,  as  we  have  said,  of  many  who  now  live,  read  the  Gospel, 
speak  about  it,  profess  to  look  to  Christ  for  salvation,  and  yet 
utterly  falsify  his  religion  in  their  practice.  When  men  at- 
tributed his  blessed  works  and  words  to  satanic  influence,  the 
heart  of  Christ  was  pierced ;  but  it  is  even  more  pierced  when 
men  profess  to  be  his  disciples,  and  by  continuance  in  sin  teach 
the  world  that  Christ  has  no  objection  to  sin.  These  are  en- 
gaged in  crucifying  the  Son  of  God  afresh.  They  crucify  his 
love  with  their  contentions;  his  holiness  with  their  profane 
conduct  3  his  justice  with  their  unrighteousness ;  his  mercy  with 
their  unmercifulness ;  his  truth  with  their  deceit;  his  gene- 
rosity with  their  selfishness.  They  crucify  him  by  falsifying 
him.  Some  pierce  him  by  denying  his  divinity;  some  by 
teaching  that  he  will  save  all,  whether  they  repent  or  not ; 
some  by  withholding  his  Gospel  from  the  multitude ;  some  by 
exalting  a  mere  ceremony  to  a  glory  above  that  of  Christ; 
some  by  substituting  a  crucifix  for  him ;  some  in  one  way, 
some  in  another.  All  whose  life,  teaching,  conversation,  go  to. 
misrepresent  or  degrade  Christ  be  they  as  numerous  as  they 
may,  as  admired  as  you  please,  they  are  piercing  Christ,  and 
they  shall  mourn.  The  thing  which  will  fill  Christ's  meek 
ones  with  inefi'able  joy,  will  fill  the  hearts  of  these  professors 
with  anguish  that  no  tongue  can  describe. 


178  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

May  24. — "  His  mercy  is  on  them  that  fear  him." — Luke  i.  50. 

Is  there  not  reason  to  apprehend  that  we  presume  upon  a 
great  deal  of  mercy  that  is  not  really  accorded  ?  We  know 
that  the  world  takes  for  granted  that  God  forgives  it,  and  re- 
serves all  its  anxiety  f(5r  matters  that  seem  to  it  invested  with 
much  more  difficulty.  But  may  it  not  be  that  we,  who  con- 
sider ourselves,  on  apparently  good  grounds,  as  God's  real  chil- 
dren, that  we  are  daily  presuming  on  God's  forgiveness  when 
that  forgiveness  is  not  really  pronounced  ?  We  are  not  notified 
of  forgiveness  by  some  special  messenger ;  but  are  taught  by 
the  Spirit  of  God  to  find  it  in  the  word  of  God  by  a  process 
in  which  there  is  some  scope  for  self  to  intermingle  and  vitiate 
the  result.  It  requires  no  little  wisdom,  but  especially  much 
meekness,  and  self-mistrust,  and  love  of  the  truth,  and  do- 
cility, to  ascertain  unerringly,  that  forgiveness  has  been  pro- 
nounced. 

God's  mercy  is  on  them  that  fear  him.  It  is  not  intended 
to  make  men  think  lightly  of  transgression;  but  greatly  to 
increase  their  estimate  of  God's  authority,  and  their  loathing 
for  the  sin  forgiven.  Is  it  impossible  to  find  in  our  practice 
the  evidence  that  we  continue  on  good  terms  with  the  sin  that 
we  presume  God  is  day  by  day  forgiving  ?  Are  we  aware  that 
this  is  a  foul  mockery  of  God,  a  caricature  of  his  mercy  ? 
There  is  no  true  fear  of  God  before  our  eyes,  if  to-day's  sin 
keeps  ever  following  upon  yesterday's  forgiveness. 


May  25. — "  There  shall  be  a  fountain  opened  to  the  house  of  David 
and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  for  sin  and  for  uncleanness." — Zech- 
ariah  xiii.  1. 

The  Jews  were  accustomed  to  regard  themselves  as  a  foun- 
tain of  righteousness,  the  only  one  in  the  earth ;  their  country 
an  oasis  made  glad  by  these  beneficent  and  hallowed  waters, 
while  all  the  rest  of  the  world  was  a  wilderness;  and  Jerusa- 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  179 

lem  as  the  blessed  spot  where  heaven  and  earth  met  together 
and  held  one  another  in  a  fond  embrace.  At  no  time  Avere 
thej  more  tenacious  of  these  views  than  when  the  Son  of  God 
dwelt  among  them,  drinking  his  daily  cnp  of  ignominy.  His 
credentials  showed  that  he  had  come  to  earth  for  the  salvation 
of  all  nations.  A  word  spoken  against  him,  a  hand  lifted  in 
opposition  to  him,  was  therefore  not  only  the  most  transcendent 
outrage  offered  to  the  Deity,  but  the  fearfulest  crime  against 
all  the  dwellers  upon  the  earth.  Yet  the  Jews  rejected  him ; 
this  is  saying  little ;  they  put  him  to  the  most  shameful  and 
most  cruel  death  conceivable. 

But  that  which  filled  up  the  measure  of  the  iniquity  of 
man  was  used  by  infinite  grace  as  a  means  for  the  most  sur- 
prising manifestation  of  itself  The  disciples  were  commanded 
to  begin  at  Jerusalem,  in  the  proclamation  of  the  Gospel. 
Then  did  the  Jews  discover  that  their  pre-eminence  over 
the  nations  was  a  pre-eminence  of  guilt;  and  having  been 
brought,  many  of  them  at  least,  into  a  posture  of  deep  self- 
condemnation  and  self-loathing,  they  discovered  thS  fountain 
of  divine  grace,  drank  thereof,  and  washed  their  sins  away  in 
itB  purifying  waters.  It  was  then  that  Jerusalem  attained  to  a 
pre-eminence  above  the  nations  immeasurably  more  honorable 
than  any  it  had  previously  enjoyed;  then,  in  that  little  season 
which  intervened  between  the  first  successes  of  the  Gospel  and 
its  publication  in  other  places.  Solomon  with  all  the  glory  of 
his  court  could  not  so  ennoble  Jerusalem,  as  the  little  com- 
pany of  believers  did,  who  were  all  of  one  heart  and  of  one 
soul. 

We  faintly  remember  to  have  read  in  some  book  of  imagina- 
tion of  a  fountain  having  marvelous  properties,  and  this 
among  the  rest — that  a  few  drops  taken  from  it  to  any  distant 
place  and  there  poured  out,  would  immediately  cause  a  similar 
fountain  there  to  spring  up.  Christ  told  the  woman  of  Sa- 
maria that  the  water  that  he  would  give  her,  would  be  in  her 


180  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

a  well  of  water,  springing  up  to  everlasting  life.  Whosoever 
comes  to  him  and  drinks,  not  only  finds  his  own  thirst  assuaged, 
but  discovers  in  himself  a  wealth  of  waters  sufficient  to  slake 
the  thirst  of  numbers.  Thus  the  fountain  opened  up  to  the 
house  of  David  and  the  people  of  Jerusalem  in  that  little 
company  of  believers,  has  been  repeated  and  repeated,  until 
now  there  is  hardly  any  place  under  the  sun  where  this  foun- 
tain of  divine  grace  is  not  accessible.  How  tame  and  puerile 
the  efforts  of  man's  fancy  in  comparison  with  the  actual  pro- 
ducts of  Grod's  beneficence !  "  Thou  art  a  God  that  doeth 
wonders."  In  order  to  discourse  of  wonders,  men  suppose 
themselves  driven  from  the  actual  world  into  the  world  of 
sheer  imagination.  But  they  forsake  the  world  of  wonders 
when  they  forsake  the  world  of  truth.  Be  it  that  they  con- 
ceive a  fountain  most  beautiful  to  behold ;  the  eye  is  not  satis- 
fied with  seeing )  or,  streaming  with  gold ;  there  are  a  thousand 
ills  of  life  that  mock  at  gold;  or,  communicating  health;  health 
is  merely  a  deliverance  from  one  class  of  sufferings.  But  a 
fountain  wliich  sheds  abroad  the  love  of  God  in  the  heart; 
which  gives  the  best  of  light  to  the  understanding ;  elevates 
the  affections;  banishes  sin;  gives  everlasting  life;  and  re- 
veals a  world  worthy  of  that  everlasting  life :  this  is  surely 
beyond  all  comparison.  The  Wonderful  Fountain. 


May  26. — ''If  two  of  you  shall  agree  on  eai-th  as  touching  anything 
that  they  shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for  them." — Matthew  xviii.  19. 

Men  are  fully  aware  of  many  of  the  advantages  of  partner- 
ships. They  even  form  partnerships  for  the  prosecution  of 
some  labors  that  would  seem  most  likely  to  be  well  performed 
by  a  single  individual ;  as  for  instance,  the  labors  of  author- 
ship. But  they  are  not  aware  that  any  gain  would  result  from 
entering  into  partnership,  with  the  promises  of  God  as  their 
capital,   and  the  throne  of  grace  as  their  place  of  business. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  181 

The  encouragement  of  the  text  does  not  address  itself  merely 
to  an  association  formed  of  two  persons;  the  context  shows 
that  it  does  not.  But  our  Lord  teaches  that  association  in 
prayer  is  so  exceedingly  profitable,  that  even  if  two  only  should 
embark  in  it,  there  would  be  grand  results.  Let  three,  four, 
or  a  hundred  and  twenty,  of  one  accord,  of  one  mind,  seek  to 
utilize  the  promises ;  commensurate  fruits  shall  appear  in  some 
early  day  of  Pentecost.  The  great  thing  is  not  the  numbers, 
but  the  agreement.  The  prayer  of  two  whose  souls  are  at- 
tuned to  exactly  the  same  key,  and  who  have  learned  to  merge 
their  separate  interests  in  one  common  interest,  shall  prevail 
more  than  the  prayer  of  tens  of  thousands,  whose  minds  are 
occupied,  more  or  less,  with  lingering  considerations  of  purely 
personal  good. 

The  Church  in  these  latter  times  has  grasped  earnestly  at 
the  advantages  connected  with  association  ;  and  the  number  of 
its  societies  is  beyond  estimate.  But  it  is  comparatively  over- 
looked that  association  in  prayer  should  take  the  lead  of  every 
other  association.  Upon  the  plateau  in  front  of  the  mercy- 
seat,  God,  as  it  were,  sees  innumerable  suppliants,  each  one,  in 
some  sense  or  other,  standing  by  himself;  and  hears  innumer- 
able petitions  which  only  accidentally  coalesce,  for  the  most 
part  are  quite  different  in  sentiment  and  aim  from  one  another, 
and  sometimes  are  strangely  opposed  to  one  another.  Now 
God  would  teach  us  that  in  prosecuting  our  associate  enter- 
prises, we  must  prosecute  them  with  united  prayer. 

The  prizes  held  out  to  believing  prayer,  are  also  prizes  for 
Christian  concord  of  the  most  intimate  kind.  Oh,  who  can 
tell  what  mighty,  what  magnificent  freight  of  celestial  treasure 
will  reach  the  shores  of  this  world,  when  Christians  bind  them- 
selves together  with  the  utmost  stringency,  before  the  mercy- 
seat  ?  surrendering  all  divided  interests,  and  constituting  them- 
selves one  firm ;  feeling  that  all  depends  upon  their  absolute 
agreement.  Cannot  every  parent  understand  this  ?  Is  it  not 
16 


182  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

his  delight  when  a  gift  bestowed  on  one  child  is  a  gratification 
to  all  ?  Is  it  not  a  grief  to  him  to  observe  that  his  children  have 
divided  interest  ?  Ten  thousand  prayers  are  dismissed  daily, 
with  this  one  word,  "  Love  one  another  with  pure  hearts  fer- 
vently." 


May  27. — "Behold  I  come  quickly;  hold  that  fast  which  thou  hast, 
that  no  man  take  thy  crown." — Revelation  iii.  11. 

Hold  fast  what  thou  hast,  because  it  is  only  for  a  little  while 
that  thou  must  hold  it  under  the  pressure  of  adverse  circum- 
stances; and  hold  it  fast  because  everlasting  victory  and  do- 
minion and  blessedness  shall  reward  thy  fidelity.  So  might  a 
captain  speak  to  a  little  band  assaulted  by  a  mighty  host,  when 
in  the  distance  a  relieving  force  is  seen  approaching;  a  nation's 
destiny  depends  upon  their  holding  their  own. 

It  is  only  for  a  little  while,  because  the  day  of  our  salvation  is 
now  nearer  than  we  believed;  a-nd  because  we  have  learned 
to  wait.  Delays  that  once  were  agonizing  now  pass  with  much 
less  severity  over  our  disciplined  natures.  We  have  learned 
obedience  by  the  things  we  have  sufiered. 

He,  the  plunderer,  who  goeth  about  seeking  to  despoil  men 
of  the  gifts  that  God  has  bestowed  on  them  through  Christ, 
obtains  his  success  chiefly  by  persuading  men  that  in  relin- 
quishing or  neglecting  this  and  that  spiritual  gift,  they  are 
doing  nothing  to  jeopardize  their  crown.  A  man  yields  up 
something  of  his  energy,  his  watchfulness,  his  prayerfulness, 
self-denial,  humility  or  love,  because  he  manages  to  persuade 
himself  that  his  title  to  glory,  honor,  and  immortality,  is  safe 
enough,  independently  of  the  vacillations  of  his  spiritual  life. 
It  is  therefore  for  the  Christian  to  keep  carefully  in  mind,  that 
whatsoever  a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  also  reap.  The  example 
of  Paul  is  admirable  here.  If  any  man  might  think  that  he 
had  got  beyond  the  reach  of  being  a  castaway,  it  was  Paul. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  183 

Well,  be  had ;  lie  had  assurance  of  his  iiidestructible  interest 
iu  Christ;  but  he  never  allowed  himself  to  feel  that  he  had 
got  beyond  the  need  of  keeping  his  body  under,  of  running 
not  uncertainly,  of  fighting  not  as  one  that  beateth  the  air, 
lest  he  himself  should  be  a  castaway.  His  assurance  was  con- 
nected with  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  within  him,  the  Spirit 
that  led  him  habitually  to  count  all  things  but  loss  that  he 
might  win  more  and  more  of  Christ,  more  and  more  of  Christ's 
likeness. 

Christ  will  keep  that  which  we  have  committed  unto  him ; 
and  we  must  keep  that  which  he  has  committed  unto  us.  None 
shall  pluck  us  out  of  his  hand ;  we  are  kept  by  the  power  of 
God  through  faith  unto  salvation ;  we  are  kept  by  the  good 
Shepherd,  because  we  keep  within  the  hearing  of  his  voice 
and  follow  him. 

The  consciousness  of  sin  often  causes  men  to  relax  their 
hold  of  Christ's  salvation.  They  have  been  overtaken  by 
temptation,  have  fallen  into  some  snare,  have  yielded  their 
heart  to  some  seductive  vanit}^ ;  and  when  they  come  to  them- 
selves, then  confidence  in  Christ  is  fearfully  shaken,  and  it  will 
be  well  if  they  let  him  not  go  altogether.  Let  them  then  hear 
his  voice  saying,  Hold  fast  what  thou  hast,  that  no  man  take 
thy  crown.  Thy  sin  starts  up  with  assumed  indignation,  pre- 
tending to  have  a  great  zeal  for  God,  and  says,  "Is  it  not 
enough  that  thy  path  was  sin  till  thou  enteredst  the  gates  of 
the  kingdom,  but  wilt  thou  within  the  very  borders  of  the 
kingdom,  sow  the  dragon's  teeth  of  sin  ?"  But  fall  not  back ; 
drag  thy  sin  to  Christ,  and  there  accuse  both  it  and  thyself, 
and  call  upon  Christ  to  avenge  himself  on  thy  recreant  nature 
by  sanctifying  it  and  clothing  it  with  the  armor  of  righteous- 
ness. 

We  can  only  hold  fast  what  we  have,  by  constantly  using  it. 
If  we  have  a  measure  of  love,  we  must  daily  study  the  means 
of  manifesting  it.     It  is  easily  recovered  from  yesterday  but 


184  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

not  from  the  day  before.  If  we  have  joy,  we  must  persevere 
in  rejoicing;  every  day  must  have  its  spiritual  joy.  Our 
peace  too,  we  must  daily  see  to  it  that  it  is  with  us.  So  with 
long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temper- 
ance. Each  day  is  to  be  considered  a  stage,  and  we  must  as- 
certain regularly  that  none  of  our  treasures  have  been  left 
behind.  Christians  are  ready  to  think,  until  they  have  learned 
the  contrary,  that  their  graces  are  safe  when  they  are  slumber- 
ing ;  but  their  slumber  is  fatal.  Whatever  we  would  retain 
we  must  keep  it  near  our  consciousness ;  our  will,  our  memory, 
our  understanding,  all  must  be  conversant  with  it. 

Look  into  the  diary  of  such  a  man  as  Jonathan  Edwards, 
to  know  how  he  held  fast  to  what  he  had,  that  no  man  should 
take  his  crown.  Look  at  these  admirable  resolutions,  and  at 
the  admirable  obedience  he  rendered  to  them,  and  see  how 
high  his  estimate  of  every  gracious  communication  from  his 
Lord,  how  strenuously  he  battled  for  the  preservation  of  it. 


May  28. — "Unto  you  that  fear  my  name  shall  the  Sun  of  righteousness 
arise." — Malachi  iv.  2. 

Unto  them  that  stand  in  awe  of  God  and  are  conversant 
with  the  divine  perfections,  the  Sun  of  righteousness  makes 
haste  to  arise.  There  has  been  a  fulfilling  of  this  truth  ever 
since  the  day  of  Pentecost.  To  one  individual  here,  to  an- 
other there,  it  is  given  to  behold  his  rising.  Here  is  one  that 
has  been  enabled  to  look  upon  Christ  as  the  sacrifice  for  sin, 
to  approach  God  through  him,  and  to  rejoice  in  the  goodly 
prospects  opening  up  before  him.  But  soon  he  becomes  con- 
scious, of  a  great  and  growing  need.  He  is  not  satisfied  with 
what  he  has  seen  of  Christ.  The  very  word  of  God  excites 
in  him  conceptions  of  a  walk  with  Christ,  glorious,  elevating, 
soul-satisfying,  beyond  anything  that  he  has  experienced.  It 
seems  to  him  that  the  world  grows  darker  every  day.     He 


DAILY    MEDITATIOXS.  185 

once  rejoiced  in  tlie  day-star  and  in  the  dawn,  and  thonglit  the 
light  amazing ;  but  now  he  is  consumed  with  longings  to  be- 
hold the  bright  manifestation  of  Christ  to  his  soul;  and  it 
seems  as  though  midnight  had  come  again.  At  length  in  some 
happy  hour,  the  scales  fall  from  his  eyes ;  the  word  of  God 
becomes  luminous  like  the  very  vestments  of  Christ  transfig- 
ured ;  and  instead  of  finding  himself  alone  in  the  world,  he 
finds  himself  in  intimate  alliance  with  a  Being  whose  glory 
fills  the  heavens.  The  whole  world  is  now  to  him  enlightened. 
His  sun  is  arisen.  All  the  works  of  nature  are  seen  as  they 
never  were  before.  In  a  particular  language  that  others  can- 
not understand,  the  heavens  declare  to  him  the  glory  of  God. 
The  sun  that  pursues  its  course  through  the  skies  is  com- 
missioned to  remind  him  that  God  is  love,  and  that  God  is 
his. 

He  goes  far  in  the  strength  of  this  joy.  But  at  length  he 
discovers  that  Christ  has  laid  the  foundations  of  his  new  na- 
ture very  deep ;  and  that  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  be  conclu- 
sively satisfied  with  any  private  joy.  He  is  so  made  like  unto 
Christ  that  he  cannot  but  look  with  longings  as  intense  as  he 
ever  knew,  for  that  appearance  of  the  Lord  in  his  unlimited 
glory,  vrhich  will  be  the  signal  of  the  complete  redemption  of 
the  Church,  as  well  as  of  the  creation  that  now  groaneth  and 
travaileth  in  pain. 

May  29. — "He  that  believetli  on  the  Son  of  God,  hath  the  witness  in 
himself." — 1  John  v.  10. 

There  is  much  evidence  given  anterior  to  faith ;  abundant 
evidence ;  far  more  than  men  care  to  gather  up,  concerning 
anything  of  worldly  interest.  Yet  the  greatest  and  most  sur- 
prising testimonies  are  reserved  for  the  satisfaction  of  be- 
lievers. If  unbelief  has  its  necessities,  faith  has  its  privileges. 
Some  would  like  to  have,  without  any  figure,  a  white  stone 
thrown  down  to  them  from  heaven,  with  their  name  upon   it, 


186  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

beside  the  name  of  God — something  that  they  can  clutch  in 
their  hand.  But  believers  are  content  with  a  testimony  more 
appropriate  to  faith. 

Christ  promised  his  Spirit ;  he  promised  himself;  he  prom- 
ised the  indAvelling  of  the  Father  in  the  heart  of  the  believer, 
who  then  has  the  witness  in  himself;  even  the  faithful  and 
true  witness,  him  that  cannot  lie,  him  that  guideth  into  all 
truth. 

But  how  manifold  is  the  testimony  of  this  witness — even  as 
many  as  are  his  operations.  The  fruits  of  the  Spirit  are  so 
many  expressions  of  this  testimony.  Consider  the  offices  of 
the  Spirit  as  set  forth  by  Christ  to  his  disciples  (John  xiv.- 
xvi.)  The  eighth  chapter  of  Romans  also  describes  this  testi- 
mony. The  seventh  shows  the  misery  of  being  without  it. 
There  is  no  witness  in  the  world  more  worthy  of  all  accepta- 
tion. For  who  will  venture  to  say  that  the  spirit  of  man,  with 
the  best  aid  of  Satan,  is  able  to  counterfeit  perfectly  the  sub- 
limest  and  blessedest  operations  of  the  Godhead  ? 


May  30.—"  The  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  the  glory  of  his  Father,  with 
his  angels." — Matthew  xvi.  27. 

It  seems  to  have  been  an  important  part  of  the  divine  plan 
that  the  people  of  God,  from  Adam  onward  to  the  actual  ad- 
vent of  the  Messiah,  should  be  momentarily  expecting  that 
Messiah ;  the  times  and  the  seasons  he  dimly  revealed,  reserv- 
ing them  mainly  for  his  own  contemplation.  And  scarcely 
had  the  Saviour  at  length  alighted  on  this  earth  than  he  began 
to  direct  the  minds  of  the  new  people  whom  he  was  forming 
for  himself,  to  his  ulterior  advent  in  glory.  To  wait  for  the 
Son  of  God  from  heaven,  is  as  much  the  proper  attitude  of 
the  Church  of  this  dispensation,  as  of  that  of  former  dispensa- 
tions. 

When  he  came  on  his  errand  of  humiliation,  there  was  no 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  18T 

element  of  humiliation  wanting ;  and  when  he  eometli  for  the 
exhibition  of  glory,  we  may  be  sure  that  there  shall  be  no  ele- 
ment of  glory  wanting.  For  consider  that  he  cometh  in  the 
glory  of  his  Father.  The  inconceivable  glory  of  God  in  the 
material  universe,  in  the  angelic  hierarchies,  in  the  heaven  of 
heavens,  must  all  be  placed  upon  the  Redeemer,  even  as  once 
our  sins  were  all  laid  upon  him.  Yes,  he  must  come  clothed 
with  the  virtues  of  all  beings,  with  all  the  righteousness  that  is, 
with  all  the  wisdom  that  is,  with  all  the  beauty  that  is,  all  the 
power,  all  the  excellence  of  all  existences.  The  glory  of  the 
sun  will  be  changed  to  sackcloth,  the  brightness  of  the  heaven 
to  darkness,  not  by  any  change  in  them,  but  by  the  superior 
glory  then  introduced.  This  glory  is  to  burst  upon  the  world 
in  a  day  and  in  an  hour,  when  men  expect  it  not :  hence  the 
need  that  Christians  should  expect  it  in  every  day  and  hour. 
The  gospel  includes  both  advents.  Christ  as  often  spoke  to 
his  disciples  of  his  future  coming  in  glory,  as  of  his  dying  in 
Jerusalem. 

May  31. — ''  I  count  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  know- 
ledge of  Christ  Jesus,  my  Lord." — Philippians  ill.  8. 

Excellency  is  to  be  estimated  by  adaptation.  Viewed  in 
himself,  Christ  is  without  a  peer.  With  all  beings  before  him, 
the  Father  chose  Christ,  saying,  "  This  is  my  elect,  in  whom 
my  soul  delighteth."  AVhen  God  has  pronounced,  what  need 
remains  of  deliberation  ?  But  happily  for  us,  there  is  in 
Christ  not  only  infinite  excellency,  but  adaptation  to  our  state 
and  requirements. 

As  he  is  excellent,  so  is  the  knowledge  of  him  excellent; 
for  we  possess  him  by  knowing  him.  There  is  nothing  in  the 
world  that  may  not  cheerfully  be  sacrificed  in  the  effort  to 
know  Christ.  If  there  be  reason  to  believe  that  we  shall  en- 
joy better  opportunities  of  knowing  Christ  in  an  inferior  po- 
sition, it  is  most  becoming  to  descend  into  it.    If  wealth  blocks 


188  DAILY    xMEDITATIOXS. 

up  the  avenues  of  our  spiritual   apprehension    of  Christ,    it 
must  be  removed. 

We  cannot  know  Christ,  if  we  are  without  a  will  to  obey 
him.  Since  the  path  of  duty  is  the  path  of  this  golden  know- 
ledge, let  us  go  forward  in  it  with  delight.  The  peasant  has 
his  few  articles  of  furniture,  some  paltry  pictures,  a  little  patch 
of  ground,  plain  apparel,  and  perhaps  thinks  much  of  these 
possessions ;  but  make  him  master  of  a  palace,  with  galleries 
and  treasuries,  and  how  lightly  will  he  then  esteem  his  former 
goods.     Thus  with  the  Christian. 


JcxE  1. — "I  am  the  bread  of  life." — John  vi.  35. 

Men  have  what  they  regard  as  life ;  and  if  you  tell  them 
that  it. is  not  life,  they  smile  at  your  quaint  way  of  viewing 
things,  and  at  your  figurative  language.  But,  really,  what  men 
call  life  is  but  a  momentary  evasion  of  death.  Death  dogs 
you  everywhere.  He  hath  long  since  written  his  name  upon 
you ;  and  he  suffers  not  a  day  to  go  by  in  which  he  does  not 
extort  a  new  confession  from  your  mortal  constitution,  to  the 
effect  that  you  are  his.  All  pain,  all  weariness,  all  loss,  all  de- 
cay, proclaims  that  you  are  a  respited  criminal. 

jMen  insist  on  regarding  the  existence  they  now  possess  as 
natural,  regular,  and  just  what  the  universal  system  of  things 
requires.  They  cannot  patiently  hearken  to  the  doctrine  that 
man  is  fallen,  that  his  present  estate  is  in  consequence  ab- 
normal, out  of  joint.  They  call  this  life,  deeming  this  to  be 
God's  great  gift,  even  his  best;  and  are  bewildered  at  the 
statement  that  this  is  death,  Grod's  real  gift  of  life  having  been 
cast  away.  It  is  a  great  approach  to  emancipation  for  a  soul 
to  discover  that  humanity  is  wrecked ;  at  sea  in  an  open  and 
shattered  boat ;  defending  itself  from  death  for  a  little  moment 
by  a  drop  of  water  and  an  ounce  of  bread ;  ready  to  perish 
whenever  it  shall  please  the  mysterious  monarch  to  step  from 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  189 

some  billow  into  the  boat.  But  when  we  have  found  that  what 
men  call  life  is  not  life,  a  question  of  unspeakable  interest 
arises.  Is  there  life  for  man  ?  Will  God,  indeed,  let  us  re- 
enter Eden,  and  put  forth  our  hand  and  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the 
tree  of  life,  and  live  forever  ?  When  Christ,  taking  his  stand 
in  the  centre  of  the  human  family,  proclaims,  "  I  am  the  bread 
of  life,"  then  Eden  is  come  again,  Eden  with  opened  doors, 
with  no  sword-waving  cherubim,  but  with  its  tree  of  life  in 
full  view,  and  within  easy  reach.  The  door  that  will  be  closed 
against  many  in  the  last  day,  is  no  other  than  the  door  that 
has  stood  open  for  them  many  a  long  year ;  and  the  life  from 
which  they  with  anguish  will  be  forever  divorced,  is  just  the 
life  that  is  now  offered  to  them  day  by  day,  and  offered  in  vain. 
If  we  would  have  a  lively  illustration  of  the  meaning  of 
these  words,  we  should  give  our  attention  to  the  few  barley 
loaves  that  were  taken  from  the  basket  of  that  lad,  multiplied 
and  distributed  to  the  apostles;  which  kept  multiplying  as 
they  kept  breaking  and  distributing  it  to  the  multitude ;  which 
kept  on  multiplying  as  the  multitude  kept  breaking  it  and 
handing  it  every  man  to  his  neighbor ;  which  abundantly  met 
the  wants  of  five  thousand  men,  besides  women  and  children, 
and  would  have  met  the  wants  of  the  whole  world  had  it  been 
there ;  which  was  so  much  greater  for  all  its  communications 
that  it  required  twelve  baskets  to  hold  it,  after  the  banquet 
was  over. 

June  2. — "  God  was  in  Christ." — 2  Corinthians  t.  19. 

You  have  false  conceptions  of  some  being,  some  one  that  has 
claims  upon  your  cordial  Icfve  and  heartiest  obedience;  his 
claims  you  cannot  recognize,  his  worth  is  utterly  hidden  from 
you,  and  your  embittered  mind  will  not  allow  you  to  behold 
him  otherwise  than  as  invested  with  dark  and  forbidding  qual- 
ities. Knowing  the  force  of  your  prejudice,  he  comes  to  you 
in  the  disguise  of  a  mean  man,  and  is  hired  by  you  as  a  serv- 


190  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

ant.  Gradually  you  marvel  at  the  admirable  characteristics 
of  this  servant.  He  removes  every  stone  from  your  path,  and 
does  it  without  ostentation.  He  garlands  your  house  about 
with  beautiful  flowers.  He  spreads  your  table  with  food  that 
angels  might  eat.  He  entertains  your  children  by  endless  de- 
vices, and  enriches  their  minds  with  the  best  instruction.  He 
is  continually  averting  some  danger,  saving  some  life.  In  some 
hour  of  special  magnanimity  on  his  part,  you  shout  aloud  your 
admiration  of  his  character,  and  call  Heaven  to  witness  that 
you  will  ever  love  him  and  ever  serve  him.  At  that  moment, 
the  disguise  falls  from  him,  and  your  injured  lord  stands  be- 
fore you.  The  master  against  whom  you  had  revolted  was  in 
that  matchless  servant.  Your  prejudices  left  him  no  alterna- 
tive but  thus  to  approach  you,  thus  to  propitiate  you.  What 
now  can  you  do  but  fall  at  his  feet  with  a  contrite  heart,  de- 
ploring your  former  folly  and  wickedness,  and  consecrating 
yourself  unreservedly  to  the  service  of  such  a  master. 

Here  is  a  province  that  professes  to  have  a  great  attachment 
to  the  sovereign,  yet  breaks  all  his  laws  without  the  slightest 
compunction,  affirming  either  that  he  had  never  made  the  laws, 
or  was  indifferent  about  their  execution.  When  any  legate 
landed  on  their  shores,  demanding  tribute,  they  tore  him  in 
pieces,  affirming  that  he  had  come  in  his  own  name,  and  that 
the  sovereign  required  no  tribute  at  their  hands.  Perhaps 
they  put  a  few  lame  and  diseased  animals  that  they  knew  not 
what  else  to  do  with,  on  board  the  vessel,  and  sent  it  back  to 
the  capital,  while  they  boasted  of  their  munificent  fealty  and 
self-sacrificing  devotedness.  At  length  a  stranger  comes  and 
takes  up  his  abode  among  them.  His  conduct  is  very  different 
from  theirs,  for  it  is  blameless.  He  teaches  and  exemplifies 
neighborly  love;  refuses  to  visit  the  places  of  amusement 
which  the  sovereign  had  forbidden  to  be  opened,  to  take  any- 
thing, do  anything,  speak  anything,  contrary  to  the  laws.  He 
speaks  of  the  king,  and  relates  what  he  has  seen  at  his  court 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  191 

and  what  he  has  not  seen  there.  He  assures  the  people  that 
if  they  will  repent  and  unfeignedly  submit  to  their  monarch, 
they  shall  meet  with  not  only  lenity,  but  boundless  kindness ; 
but  if  they  remain  obdurate,  he  will  come  and  overwhelm 
them  with  his  wrath.  The  people,  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest,  hear  all  this  with  shouts  of  derision,  unbelief,  and  an- 
ger ;  from  day  to  day  their  anger  becomes  less  and  less  con- 
trollable ;  at  length  they  seize  the  stranger,  determined  to  put 
him  to  the  most  barbarous  and  shameful  death.  "  At  last,'' 
they  then  say,  "  we  shall  free  the  earth  from  the  presence  of 
this  blasphemer,  who  can  do  nothing  but  asperse  the  honor  of 
our  sovereign."  They  bring  their  instruments  of  torture  and 
proceed  to  inflict  upon  him  the  most  fiendish  torments.  At 
that  moment  his  imperial  cohorts  arrive  and  snatch  him  from 
their  hands;  his  nobles  re-invest  him  with  the  symbols  of 
power,  and  bow  the  knee  before  him ;  and  all  the  company  of 
the  regicides  stand  appalled  and  utterly  confounded.  Their 
sovereign  was  in  that  stranger  -,  and  it  was  the  character,  the 
words,  the  ways  of  their  sovereign,  that  they  had  been  so  in- 
tensely hating.     "God  was  in  Christ." 


JuxE  3.— "Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name,  there 
am  I  in  the  midst  of  them." — Matthew  xviii.  20. 

We  cross  sea  and  land  to  visit  the  holy  places.  We  exult 
to  look  upon  the  wretched  city  that  bears  the  name  of  the 
place  where  Christ  was  condemned  to  death.  We  say,  this 
stream  he  crossed,  this  mountain  he  stood  upon,  this  valley  he 
traversed,  this  shore  he  visited,  in  this  town  he  was  born,  in 
this  place  he  was  brought  up.  Romanists,  Greeks,  Armenians, 
who  know  of  no  other  holy  places,  jostle  us  and  outstrip  us. 
But  the  question,  "  Where  is  Christ  to  be  found  now  ?"  is  far 
more  important  than  the  question,  where  he  once  was.  "  The 
world  seeth  me  no  more  and  thinketh  of  me  in  the  past,  but 


192  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

ye  see  me.  The  hour  cometh  when  ye  shall  neither  in  this 
mountain,  nor  yet  at  Jerusalem,  worship  the  Father ;  but  when 
true  worshippers  shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in 
truth."  The  little  companies  that  come  together  in  upper 
chambers  and  bye  places,  in  the  name  of  Christ,  remembering 
his  promises,  seeking  his  presence,  cherishing  his  spirit,  hon- 
oring his  word — in  these  little  companies  Christ  is  to  be  found. 

Is  it  possible  that  any  one  should  be  a  lover  of  Christ  and 
not  a  lover  of  these  assemblies  ?  That  they  should  be  a  wea- 
riness to  the  world,  we  can  understand.  But  alas !  there  are 
thousands  who  profess  to  be  his,  who  never  dream  of  frequent- 
ing these  meetings  of  believers,  held  in  honor  of  Christ,  for 
communion  with  Christ.  These  believers  behold  Christ  in 
one  another.  They  speak  his  words;  entertain  his  desires; 
occupy  themselves  with  his  resolutions.  He  is  present  in  their 
characters,  modelled  upon  his.  He  is  present  in  the  word 
which  they  read,  hearken  to,  believe.  He  is  the  subject  of 
their  conversation.  They  dwell  upon  his  life,  sufferings,  and 
love.  He  is  present  by  the  Spirit,  that  takes  of  him  and 
shows  unto  them.  They  are  convinced  of  sin,  confess  it,  and 
forsake  it.  They  behold  his  glory,  and  rejoice  greatly  in  him. 
Such  effects  of  Christ's  words  and  glances  often  take  place  in 
these  meetings,  as  greatly  surpass  what  took  place  when  he 
was  visibly  present  with  those  twelve  disciples  of  old.  He  is 
present  as  a  righteous  advocate  and  intercessor.  They  are  his 
plenipotentiaries.  He  gives  them  their  instructions,  and  clothes 
them  with  power. 

If  Christ  be  in  these  assemblies,  then  are  they  the  true  cen- 
tres from  whence  the  mightiest  influences  flow  abroad  over  the 
world.  Divine  wisdom,  truth,  power  and  love,  must  be  added 
to  the  folly,  weakness,  ignorance,  erringness,  of  the  two  or 
three  that  meet  in  his  name,  in  order  that  we  may  form  a  just 
estimate  of  the  moral  value  of  these  meetings.  Some  of  the 
grandest  revolutions  in  society,  have  their  origin  here. 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  193 

June  4. — "  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  of  whom  I 
am  chief." — 1  Timothy  i.  15. 

Every  man  looks  upon  himself  as  belonging  to  a  small  mi- 
nority composed  of  the  world's  best  men.  If  there  were  one 
enormous  circle  drawn,  and  another  very  small  one,  the  former 
for  the  great  transgressors  and  the  latter  for  the  comparatively 
innocent,  all  the  world  with  one  consent  would  seek  to  crowd 
into  the  smaller  circle.  And  in  this  they  would  be  acting 
quite  conscientiously.  They  are  accustomed  in  their  self-esti- 
mates to  overrate  the  good  and  underrate  the  evil.  Again, 
they  judge  of  themselves,  not  by  their  actual  works,  but  by 
their  imaginations,  aspirations,  and  unrealized  capabilities. 
Circumstances,  they  say  to  themselves,  keep  us  down ;  but  we 
feel  that  we  are  capable  of  rising  to  the  loftiest  heights  of 
moral  power.  Their  bad  qualities  again  are  treated  as  acci- 
dents, not  properly  belonging  to  them ;  as  barnacles  cleave  to 
the  bottom  of  a  ship.  Thus  it  was  with  Paul,  till  the  law 
came,  and  he  found  himself  compelled  to  apply  God's  standard 
of  goodness  to  himself.  Then  he  was  filled  with  horror ;  sin 
revived  and  he  died ;  the  former  Paul  whom  he  had  known 
and  admired,  and  wanted  all  the  world  to  admire,  disappeared, 
and  in  his  place  came  Sin,  revealing  itself  in  all  his  nature,  all 
his  habits,  and,  as  it  were,  possessing  him,  from  the  crown  of 
his  head  to  the  sole  of  his  feet.  He  now  finds  it  impossible  to 
see  so  much  sin  in  any  other  as  he  sees  in  himself;  just  as  it 
is  impossible  for  the  eye  to  see  so  much  of  things  at  a  distance, 
as  of  thing-s  at  hand. 

This  mighty  and,  as  it  seems,  incredible  change  must  pass 
upon  all  men.  Yes,  all  the  proud,  the  boastful,  the  self-com- 
placent, the  moral;  the  souls  that  eulogize  themselves  for 
heaven-born  impulses  and  heaven-high  aspirations;  these  all 
must  be  brought  to  the  condition  into  which  the  law  brought 
Paul.  I  say  not  that  they  will  not  be  brought  out  of  it. 
17 


194  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

"When  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  shall  be  revealed,  who  shall  be 
able  to  stand  ? 


June  5. — "  Blessed  are  those  servants  whom  the  Lord,  when  he  cometh, 
shall  find  watching." — Luke  xii.  37. 

How  everything  in  this  world  wears  the  appearance  of  a 
house  the  master  of  which  is  away,  far,  far  away ;  as  good  as 
dead.  Every  one  doeth  that  which  is  right  in  his  own  eyes, 
and  goeth  about  as  though  he  had  himself  inherited  all  author- 
ity. A  few,  indeed,  proclaim  in  this  chamber  and  in  that,  the 
remembered  will  of  the  master,  and  endeavor  to  turn  back  the 
tide  of  rebellion  and  of  ungodliness.  But  the  others  listen 
not.  They  say,  "  Our  Lord  delayeth  his  coming,  and  there  is 
not  the  slightest  likelihood  that  he  will  come  in  our  days.  He 
hath  stationed  no  guard  to  interfere  with  us ;  we  have  liberty ; 
let  us  avail  ourselves  of  it."  Carried  away  by  the  force  of 
their  example,  some  from  whom  you  would  have  expected 
more  fidelity,  give  over  watching.  But  there  is  a  little  band 
who  keep  watching,  watching  on,  amid  all  the  confusion  and 
iniquity  around  them.  To  a  reflecting  observer,  it  is  quite 
amazing  to  see  how  they  go  about  all  their  appointed  occupa- 
tions, just  as  though  the  Lord  were  there,  looking  on;  not 
sparing  themselves,  not  seeking  their  own,  putting  up  with  in- 
sults and  injuries,  multiplying  their  labors;  introducing  im- 
provements into  their  way  of  doing  things,  increasing  in  skill, 
in  patience,  in  success,  as  months  and  years  roll  on.  What  is 
the  secret  spring  of  their  conduct  ?  It  is  twofold.  By  faith 
they  know  that  their  Lord  sees  them,  even  now,  and  is  ac- 
quainted with  all  their  ways;  and  they  know  also  that  he 
cometh,  none  can  say  how  soon,  to  take  unto  him  his  great 
power  and  reign. 


DAILY    MEDITATIOXS.  195 

June  6. — "Pray  without  ce'asing.  In  everything  give  thanks." — 
1  Thessalonians  v.  17,  18. 

You  are  always  receiving ;  you  are  always  needing.  There 
is  no  position  that  you  are  called  to  occupy  in  which  you  will 
not  find  some  expressions  of  divine  goodness.  There  is  no 
cup  so  hitter  given  you  hy  your  heavenly  Father  that  has  not 
in  it  some  commingled  good.  Li  everytlimg  give  thanks.  In 
the  pit  of  Joseph.  In  his  prosperity.  In  his  prison.  In  the 
belly  of  the  fish.  Upon  Job's  dunghill.  Let  John  the  Bap- 
tist in  prison  give  thanks  that  he  had  received  boldness  to 
declare  the  truth.  Let  the  scourg6d  disciples  rejoice  that  they 
are  counted  worthy  to  suffer  for  the  name  of  Jesus.  In  every 
trial  you  have  this  at  least  to  give  thanks  for,  that  you  are 
tried ;  for  you  might  have  been  cast  away  as  reprobate.  The 
very  fact  of  trial  shows  a  thought  of  goodness  toward  you  on 
the  part  of  Grod.  Observe  what  you  are  receiving,  and  give 
thanks  for  it :  be  sensible  also  of  what  you  need,  and  pray  for 
it. 

Pray  without  ceasing,  for — 

The  adversary  is  unceasingly  on  the  alert. 

The  manna  of  grace  does  not  keep. 

Your  nature  is  most  volatile  and  mutable. 

Prayer  is  the  recognition  of  an  unceasing  fact,  namely  your 
dependence  on  God. 


June  7. — "Walk  in  the  Spirit." — Gralatians  v.  16. 

Let  the  Spirit  have  the  control  of  all  your  movements.  Do 
this  thing,  let  alone  that,  adopt  this  habit,  forsake  that,  speak 
this  word,  dismiss  that,  go,  stay,  as  the  Spirit  shall  choose.  It 
is  certainly  a  marvellous  invention  of  God  that  the  Spirit 
should  come  down  from  heaven,  enter  into  these  satanized  con- 
stitutions of  ours,  and  undertake  to  exhibit  a  divine  life  upon 
the  earth  through  the  instrumentality  of  anything  so  utterly 


196  DAILY    MEDITATIOXS. 

intractable  as  these  members,  these  hearts,  these  darkened  un- 
derstandings. It  seems  like  expecting  that  some  mud-boat 
shall  mount  into  the  skies,  and  wheel  itself  in  beauty  along 
the  clouds. 

He  that  walketh  in  the  Spirit,  will  be  very  shy  of  mere 
impulses.  He  will  cultivate  a  calm  coUectedness  of  soul,  will 
keep  himself  in  a  listening  attitude,  that  he  may  ever  hear  the 
still  small  voice  of  the  Spirit.  How  wonderful  that  this  mighty 
subjugation  of  his  nature,  should  be  brought  about  by  the 
agency  of  a  faint  whisper  that  the  least  commotion  renders 
inaudible  !  "What  all  the  physical  forces  of  the  world  would 
have  failed  to  accomplish,  is  brought  about  by  a  gentle  mys- 
terious whisper  in  the  depth  of  one's  nature.  The  world  sees 
the  surprising  result,  and  is  all  bewildered  at  the  absence  of  a 
sensible  motive  power. 

Junes. — "I  will  not  leave  you  comfortless.  I  will  come  to  you." — 
John  xiv.  18. 

More  literally,  I  will  not  leave  you  orphans — bereaved  of 
ail  that  you  hold  most  dear,  most  necessary — helpless  in  the 
presence  of  many  foes — friendless  in  the  presence  of  many 
trials —  skilless  in  the  presence  of  an  immense  task.  The  pa- 
rents are  the  complement  of  the  little  child.  It  operates 
through  their  wisdom  and  power  and  resources,  to  keep  its 
place  in  the  world,  and  act  its  part.  The  Christian  without 
Christ,  if  such  a  thing  can  be  conceived,  is  the  most  deplora- 
bly helpless  being  in  the  world.  For  he  has  been  awakened 
from  the  delusion  that  possesses  mankind,  that  they  are  com- 
plete in  themselves;  he  has  seen  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  law  of  God;  has  discovered  the  bitter  hostility  of  the 
world  to  the  righteous;  and  just  in  the  measure  that  his  sense 
of  need  has  been  increased,  he  has  seen  the  ability  to  help 
him  vanishing  from  the  world  and  all  created  things,  to  con- 
centrate itself  in  Christ. 


DAILY    MEDITATIOXS.  197 

The  nearest  approach  to  such  an  orphan  state  of  the  Church 
was  in  the  period  between  Christ's  death  and  the  resurrection. 
To  the  disciples  at  that  time  Christ  was  really  dead ;  his  power, 
wisdom,  grace,  were  all  dead;  the  promises  were  dead  and 
buried  with  him;  all  the  advantages  conferred  by  his  teaching, 
all  the  blessings  derived  from  his  presence,  were  crucified  and 
gone.  These  disciples  had  been  taken  up  by  the  Saviour  al- 
most into  heaven;  and  now  by  the  unexpected  death  of  their 
leader  and  commander,  they  were  let  drop  to  a  point  of  help- 
lessness far  below  that  of  the  rest  of  men.  They  shut  the 
doors  for  fear  of  the  Jews  who  had  crucified  him,  and  who 
might  come  at  any  moment  and  crucify  them ;  and  they  looked 
upon  the  swords  which  Christ  had  told  them  to  take,  instead 
of  all  the  promises ;  and  a  full  conception  of  their  misery 
burst  upon  them.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  enemies  on  the 
one  hand;  and  they,  a  few  inexpert  fishermen  with  two  or 
three  rusty  swords  on  the  other.  Could  anything  be  more  ab- 
surd than  the  idea  of  a  conflict  ?  One  little  word  of  promise 
had  once  invested  them  with  power  over  all  the  power  of  the 
enemy ;  but  all  the  promises  were  now  buried  with  Christ,  and 
a  great  stone  rolled  upon  them ;  and  they  were  left  alone  with 
their  wretched  swords.  But  Christ  fulfilled  his  word.  Ho 
left  them  not  a  prey  to  the  wrath  of  man  and  the  malice  of 
the  adversary.  He  came  unto  them ;  and  with  him  came  all 
the  promises.  In  fact,  they  themselves  with  him  arose. 
They  breathed,  they  lived,  when  they  again  saw  him  breath- 
ing, living. 

If  at  any  time  a  soul  be  brought  into  a  state  of  orphanage, 
and  seem  to  itself  separated  from  all  grace  and  power  and 
hope;  let  it  lay  hold  of  this  word.  It  may  have  been  .fitting 
that  it  should  have  a  taste  of  the  misery  of  being  without 
Christ,  under  a  sense  of  the  need  of  Christ;  but  a  taste  sufiices. 
"  I  will  come  unto  you,"  says  Jesus. 
17  «■ 


198  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

June  9. — "If  a  man  love  me  he  will  keep  my  words;  and  my  Fatlier 
•will  love  him,  and  we  will  come  unto  him  and  make  our  abode  with  him." 
— John  xiv.  23. 

Jude  wanted  to  know  how  the  manifestation  of  Christ  unto 
his  people  exclusively,  was  to  be  effected.  Christ  in  reply, 
says,  that  the  heliever  has  something  and  God  something  to  do ; 
it  does  not  concern  the  believer  to  know  how  God  will  do  his 
part;  all  that  concerns  him  is  to  know  how  he  is  to  do  his  part. 
Let  him  then  keep  the  words  of  Christ,  and  the  manifestation 
will  be  brought  about ;  the  Godhead  shall  take  up  its  abode 
with  him ;  let  him  keep  the  words  of  Christ,  and  he  will  keep 
Christ  with  him;  let  the  words  of  God  abide  with  him,  and 
God  will  abide  with  him. 

To  know  how  to  keep  the  words  of  Christ  is  the  most  im- 
portant of  all  knowledge ;  to  keep  them  is  the  most  importan-t 
of  all  works. 

The  best  of  all  teachers  in  this  thing  is  love.  Love  of  Christ 
v/ill  not  allow  us  to  make  light  of  any  word  of  Christ.  It  views 
the  memory  as  a  consecrated  room  fitted  up  for  the  reception 
of  the  words  of  its  object.  The  words  of  a  man  embody  his 
character ; — imperfectly  however ; — for  who  is  without  guile  ? 
The  words  of  Christ  give  us  Christ  himself  They  tell  me 
what  he  loves;  in  other  words^  what  he  wishes  me  to  be;  and 
I  must  keep  them  perpetually  that  I  may  know  what  I  should 
perpetually  be.  I  cannot  keep  the  words  of  Christ  and  re- 
move out  of  the  path  of  Christ;  or  if  they  then  abide  with 
me,  it  is  to  torture  me,  and  I  can  have  no  peace,  till  I  make 
my  way,  wounded  and  wearied,  back  to  the  king's  highway. 
While  I  keep  the  words  of  Christ,  I  keep  the  tempter  at  a 
distance;  I  thwart  his  endeavors  as  Christ  himself  thwarted 
them.  Let  me  keep  the  words  of  Christ,  and  the  principles 
of  this  world  shall  find  no  place  in  me.  In  keeping  the  words 
of  Christ,  I  keep  the  watchword  by  which  I  have  access  at  all 
times  to  the  throne  of  God's  heavenly  grace.     Let  me  keep 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  199 

tliem  then  in  affection,  in  •  memory, nn  faith,  in  obedience,  in 
prayer. 


June  10. — "  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto  you." — John 
xiv.  27. 

Christ  makes  his  will,  the  hour  of  his  departure  having 
come.  Silver  and  gold  he  has  none.  To  the  eye  of  the  world 
it  is  a  pauper  going  his  way ;  and  the  wonder  is  that  there 
should  be  any  to  attend  him  in  his  last  hours.  He  has  lived 
in  the  world  and  amassed  nothing ;  not  so  much  as  to  pay  his 
funeral  expenses.  His  life  is  a  fiiilure ;  he  has  had  the  usual 
advantages,  yet,  leaves  the  world  as  he  entered  it.  You  will 
find  no  parchments  in  his  drawers;  no  stray  pieces  of  gold  in 
his  coffers ;  it  is  a  dead  man  dying ;  for  what  but  a  dead  man 
is  he  that  has  no  worldly  property  ? 

This  expresses  the  feeling,  if  not  the  reasoning,  of  many. 
Yet  why  do  men  seek  property  ?  Is  it  not  from  the  want  of 
peace?  Why  do  we  behold  the  world  rushing  passionately 
along  ten  thousand  paths  ?  Because  they  find  not  peace.  They 
seek  peace  by  appropriation,  not  by  renunciation.  Would  not 
even  their  own  wisdom  teach  them  to  purchase  peace,  if  an  op- 
portunity presented  itself,  by  the  surrender  of  a  globe  of  gold  ? 

The  peace  that  Christ  leaves,  is  his  own  peace.  Consider 
his  life.  He  endured  the  constant  contradiction  of  sinners. 
He  was  numbered  with  the  transgressors.  He  was  stigmatized 
as  devilish  in  origin,  character,  and  purpose.  Each  returning 
day  brought  him  new  trials,  new  sufferings.  So  that  the  peace 
he  leaves  is  consistent  with  many  trials,  many  afflictions.  These 
in  fact  serve  for  the  proof  of  it. 

The  legatees  of  Christ  have  peace  of  conscience.  Myriads 
of  sins,  each  of  which — in  the  day  of  the  mind's  awakening — 
has  the  tormenting  fiiculty  of  many  devils,  are  bound  as  to  this 
power,  and  that  forever.  We  have  peace  in  the  deliverance 
from  inordinate  desires : — in  the  consciousness  of  God's  favor : — 


200  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

in  the  assurance  tliat  all  things  concerning  ns  will  be  ordered 
for  the  best : — in  freedom  from  worldly  cares : — in  the  cer- 
tainty of  Christ's  victorious  coming  and  everlasting  reign. 


June  11. — "  Herein  is  my  Father  glorified,  that  ye  bear  much  fruit." — 
John  xv.  8. 

This  is  a  valid  argument  with  those  that  are  concerned  for 
the  glory  of  God.  It  is  addressed  to  those  who  are  acquainted 
with  this  spring  of  action.  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of 
God,  and  the  firmament  showeth  his  handiwork ;  but  in  vain, 
till  Christians  in  a  far  higher  degree  exhibit  his  glory  by  show- 
ing that  Christ  is  the  true  vine,  and  that  they  who  abide  in 
him  obtain  the  communications  of  a  divine  life,  and  produce 
heavenly  fruits  on  earth.  What  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  the 
hills  and  the  floods,  volcanoes  and  earthquakes,  rainbows  and 
flowers,  what  the  works  of  God  in  nature  and  in  providence 
have  not  succeeded  in  doing,  it  is  yours  under  peculiar  circum- 
stances, and  by  the  subordination  of  mightiest  means,  to  at- 
tempt. Innumerable  spectators  from  the  worlds  on  high,  watch 
with  breathless  interest  the  progress  of  this  experiment.  And 
can  it  be  that  what  the  magnificent  and  all-resplendent  orbs  of 
space  have  not  accomplished,  shall  be  brought  about  by  the  in- 
strumentality of  a  little  company  of  converted  sinners  ?  That 
you  shall  show  forth  the  glory  of  God,  and  constrain  the  world 
to  take  knowledge  of  his  perfections  ? 

Christ  is  the  vine,  and  you  are  the  branches ;  wherefore 
your  fruit  is  Christ's  fruit.  The  world  did  not  get  rid  of  him 
by  killing  him.  He  lives  in  you  and  produces  fruit  in  you. 
His  meekness  and  lowliness  are  to  find  their  exhibition  through 
you.  His  self-denial  and  love ;  his  zeal  and  faithfulness ;  his 
faith  and  prayerfulness ;  his  wisdom  and  patience;  his  forti- 
tude, his  impartiality,  his  purity,  all  his  admirable  character- 
istics are  to  abide  in  the  world,  for  you  are  in  the  world.  Then 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  201 

will  the  world  find  Itself  baffled  and  confounded,  when  having 
crucified  Christ  in  Jerusalem,  it  finds  him  springing  up  again 
not  only  in  Jerusalem,  but  in  Samaria,  Joppa,  Damascus,  An- 
tioch,  Ephesus,  Corinth,  Rome,  and  in  fact  everywhere  through- 
out the  world. 


June  12. — "As  the  Father  hath  loved  me,  so  have  I  you." — John  xv.  9. 

These  disciples  were  the  representatives  of  the  universal 
church.  They  stood  in  the  place  of  all  believers.  We  were 
all  there  by  proxy.  It  must  never  be  supposed  that  the  beau- 
tiful words  and  condescending  acts  of  Christ  were  just  for 
Peter,  John,  James,  and  their  companions.  John  is  not  the 
only  beloved  disciple  who  is  encouraged  to  lean  upon  the  bosom 
of  his  Lord.  His  love  for  the  family  of  Bethany  is  not  a  sin- 
gular love,  with  which  other  families  have  nothing  to  do.  It 
is  a  specimen  of  his  love  rather,  intended  to  make  glad  ten 
thousand  families.  That  loving,  solicitous  question,  "Lovest 
thou  me  V  addressed  to  Peter,  stops  not  with  Peter,  but  makes 
its  whispered  way  to  innumerable  other  professors,  preserving 
all  its  tenderness  of  intonation  and  fullness  of  expression. 

The  great  thing  is  to  have  a  persistent,  unvanquishable  faith 
with  regard  to  this,  so  as  to  be  able  to  take  our  place  at  the 
side  of  Christ,  and  accompany  him  through  Galilee  and  Judea; 
or,  if  you  choose  to  express  it  so,  to  have  him  by  us,  in  our 
own  place  of  residence,  mingling  his  life  with  ours,  questioning 
us,  upbraiding  us,  educating  us  for  his  own  heaven  of  love. 
And  it  is  a  happy  thing  for  us  that  there  is  nothing  about  the 
character  of  those  first  disciples  to  make  us  difiident  in  appro- 
priating the  gracious  words  addressed  to  them.  There  is  no 
halo  of  excellency  about  them  to  intimidate  us.  In  fact,  they 
are  just  ourselves.  Those  things  which,  we  are  well  av.'are, 
constitute  the  most  repugnant  elements  of  our  character, — 
pride,  unbelief,  selfishness,  passit  i,  carnality,  envy,  sloth,  cow- 
ardice,— these  very  things  are  found  in  them.     They  after- 


202  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

wards  put  on^  it  is  true,  the  armor  of  Hglit,  and  shed  lustre 
upon  their  sacred  calling,  but  this  was  after  Christ  had  given 
all  his  proofs  of  love. 

I  have  loved  you  ;  and  if  you  wish  to  know  how  much,  why, 
let  us  take  the  highest  possible  expression,  even  the  love  of  the 
infinite  Father  for  his  Son ;  so  have  I  loved  you.  Nothing 
could  exceed  the  preciousness  of  this  statement ;  no  statement 
was  ever  more  corroborated  by  evidence.  It  is  painful  to  think 
of  such  a  heavenly  declaration  being  made  in  vain  in  the  ear 
of  men ;  for  the  honor  of  Christ,  see  that  you  receive  it,  be- 
lieve it,  live  upon  it. 


June  13. — "If  ye  keep  my  commandments,  ye  shall  abide  in  my  love." 
— John  xv.  10. 

Christ's  love  takes  us  as  it  finds  us;  but  it  does  not  leave  us 
so.  If  it  did  not  make  us  better,  it  would  not  be  Christ's  love,  but 
just  common  earth-love.  There  are  two  mighty  chapters  in  the 
history  of  Christ's  love.  One  relates  to  the  means  by  which  he 
brings  us  to  himself,  the  other  to  the  means  by  which  he  keeps 
us  with  himself  After  we  have  been  brought  to  him,  a  sub- 
lime work  expands  itself  before  him.  We  are  to  be  made  like 
unto  himself.  He  will  not  rest  until  he  has  communicated 
unto  us  his  own  perfections.  These  souls  so  loved  are  to  be 
made  lovely.  Christ  would  not  be  worthy  of  our  continued 
regard,  if  he  left  us  to  follow  our  own  evil  will  ]  and  the  whole 
story  of  his  love  would  turn  out  a  mere  legend,  if  he  taught 
us  not  to  honor  the  commandments  of  God.  But  this  reproach 
cannot  be  brought  against  Christ.  Keep  ray  commandments, 
he  says,  and  abide  in  my  love. 

This  is  a  different  language  from  that  of  Sinai.  It  is  not 
the  language  of  authority,  so  much  as  of  love.  The  speaker 
and  his  friend  are  taking  counsel  together  as  to  the  best  mode 
of  perpetuating  the  hallowed  sentiment  by  which  they  are 
bound.     "  I  cannot  support  the  idea,"  says  the  friend,  "  of  any 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  203 

interruption  to  this  love.  Tell  me  how  it  may  be  made  im- 
mortal, unchangeable."  "  I  will  tell  you.  Keep  my  com- 
mandments. They  shall  be  to  you  like  an  amulet,  or  mystic 
ring ;  so  long-  as  it  remains  with  you,  I  cannot  leave  you." 
"  Oh  !  how  delightful,"  exclaims  the  friend,  "  that  there  should 
be  commandments,  expressive  of  thy  will,  and  indicative  of 
the  way  of  abiding  in  thy  love.  For  it  is  the  life  of  love,  to 
have  something  to  do  for  its  object,  to  have  commandments  to 
keep.  These  commandments  will  keep  us  bound  to  one  an- 
other. For  thou  hast  said,  "  Without  me  ye  can  do  nothing." 
So  I  am  to  do  nothing  alone.  Thy  commandments  remove  me 
from  thee  ?  No  !  not  for  an  instant ;  they  will  but  draw  me  more 
and  more  closely  to  thee !" 

June  14. — "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  the 
Father  in  my  name,  he  will  give  it  you." — John  xvi.  23. 

Christ  says  this  for  the  purpose,  as  it  were,  of  inducing  us 
to  consent  to  his  departure.  Having  come  into  the  world  and 
constituted  himself  our  good  Shepherd,  and  accustomed  us  to 
lean  on  him  for  everything,  we  are  rather  confounded  at  the 
suggestion  that  he  is  to  go  away  again.  Seeing  this,  he  gives 
us  this  reassuring  promise.  Whatsoever  we  ask  of  the  Father, 
he  will  give  it.  Well,  suppose  we  ask  for  Christ.  He  will  be 
given.  Not  with  the  limitations  of  an  earthly  body.  "  If 
thou  hadst  been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died."  These  re- 
proaches are  painful  to  the  heart  of  Christ.  It  is  expedient 
that  he  go,  that  he  may  come  again  in  spirit,  in  glorious  omni- 
presence, and  be  the  shepherd  of  a  flock  feeding  on  ten  thous- 
and hills. 

Will  the  Father,  indeed,  give  us  everything  that  we  ask  ? 
Is  thy  name  so  potent  in  influence  at  the  throne  of  grace,  that 
it  is  impossible  for  any  gift  to  be  withheld,  if  demanded  in 
that  name  ?  It  is  not  merely  the  half  of  his  kingdom  that  the 
Father  must  yield  to  us,  if  we  ask ;  tvhatsoever  we  ask  we  must 


204  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

receive.  But  in  fact  the  gift  lias  already  been  made.  "  The 
Father  loveth  the  Son,  and  hath  given  all  things  into  his 
hands."  When,  therefore,  we  ask  anything  in  thy  name,  we 
ask  for  what  has  already  been  made  over  to  thee. 

But  to  whom  is  this  promise  made  ?  To  the  apostles  and  to 
all  who  stand  in  the  position  that  the  apostles  stood  in.  To 
those  who  have  apostolic  work  to  do,  and  apply  themselves  to 
it  with  apostolic  consecration.  With  promises  so  vast,  how 
vast  should  have  been  the  performance  of  the  Church,  how 
rapid  and  signal  her  successes !  Every  generation  of  believers 
that  has  come  into  existence,  read  the  Gospel  of  John,  and 
gone  its  way,  must  stand  condemned  in  the  presence  of  these 
unapprehended  promises.  Are  we  grasping  them  ?  Or  even 
looking  them  in  the  face  ?     Or  feeling  our  way  towards  them  ? 


June  15. — "In  the  world  ye  sha  '  have  tribulation." — John  xvi.  33. 

There  was  a  new  and  wondrous  trial  of  mankind,  when 
Christ  dwelt  on  the  earth.  The  world  is  always  saying,  "  If 
we  had  been  in  Eden,  we  would  not  have  brought  ruin  on  our- 
selves." By  the  coming  of  Christ  the  earth  was,  as  it  were, 
made  into  a  new  Eden  for  the  occasion,  and  men  were  tried 
over  again.  It  was  no  longer  the  question,  "  Will  they  sin  ?" 
But,  "  Will  they  receive  Ood  manifest  in  the  form  of  man  ? 
How  will  they  treat  the  most  glorious  and  admirable  being  in 
existence,  infinitely  humbling  himself  for  their  salvation?" 
The  trial  was  made  as  easy  for  them  as  it  could  be.  The 
Jews  were  specially  prepared  for  his  coming.  They  were  edu- 
cated to  feel  their  need  of  an  almighty  Saviour.  He  came  in 
the  most  propitiating  guise  conceivable.  Yet  he  was  re- 
jected, abhorred,  killed.  Let  the  world  now  forever  be  silent 
about  its  love  of  goodness,  its  noble  aspirations,  its  heavenward 
tendencies.  He  that  made  the  world,  the  fountain  of  all  ex- 
cellence, came  into  the  world,  into  the  elect  and  well-tutored 


DAILY    MEDITATI02s'S.  205 

part  of  it,  yet  encountered  from  first  to  last  nothing  but  oppo- 
sition ;  and  it  was  only  by  special  efforts  of  divine  power  that 
his  life  was  prolonged  sufficiently  for  him  to  make  a  complete 
manifestation  of  the  divine  nature,  and  accomplish  all  that  was 
requisite  for  the  salvation  of  men. 

As  it  is  settled  that  the  world  has  no  sympathy  with  true 
goodness,  so  there  can  be  no  question  what  kind  of  reception 
it  will  give  to  those  who  come  in  the  name  of  Christ,  bear- 
ing the  image  of  Christ.  The  world  passes  through  many 
phases,  puts  on  many  aspects ;  but  it  has  its  own  particular  or- 
bit, from  which  it  never  breaks  away.  Its  changes  are  always 
within  certain  well-defined  limits.  It  is  true  to  itself,  true  to 
its. own  rebellious  will;  and  under  no  felicity  of  circumstances, 
does  it  ever  find  itself  sitting  quietly  and  humbly  on  the  steps 
of  God's  throne. 

Expect,  therefore,  that  the  lion  and  the  tiger  will  give  a 
gentle  and  amicable  reception  to  the  lamb ;  but  do  not  expect 
that  the  world  will  provide  accommodation  for  those  who 
travel  along  the  narrow  path  that  leadeth  unto  everlasting 
life ;  or  busy  itself  to  take  up  the  stones  out  of  that  path. 
The  world,  indeed,  has  a  great  deal  of  wisdom,  and  has  mani- 
fested it  in  these  latter  days  by  carefully  studying  how  to  treat 
the  Church  so  as  to  make  the  Church  as  little  a  source  of  dis- 
comfort as  possible.  Formerly  it  committed  some  blunders,  by 
proceeding  against  it  with  fire  and  sword;  the  fiiith,  the  joy, 
the  dying  hymns  of  those  whom  it  burnt  at  the  stake  kept 
irritating  the  memory  and  making  the  ears  to  tingle,  for  a 
long  time.  But  now  the  world  parries  the  testimony  of  the 
Church  by  force  of  courtesy.  It  professes  to  be. occupying  it- 
self with  the  subject  of  religion,  and  to  have  almost  made  up 
its  mind  to  embrace  Christianity ;  begging  meanwhile  that  it 
may  not  be  disturbed  in  its  meditations.  And  then  again, 
alas !  it  has  got  many  unsuspected  victories  over  the  Church, 
and  its  banner  is  flying  from  many  a  fortress  where  it  should 
18 


206  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

never  have  been  planted.  But  lie  that  will  live  godly  in 
Christ  Jesus,  will  find  the  world  very  decidedly  opposed  to 
him.  It  will  seek  at  first  to  bind  him  perhaps  with  ribands, 
and  not  with  iron  chains ;  but  bind  him  it  will,  if  it  can. 


June  16. — "Being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God." — Ro- 
mans V.  1. 

We  receive  tidings  of  a  treaty  of  peace  between  two  nations 
lately  belligerent.  Anon,  we  receive  intimations  of  another  war 
possible.  Rumors  of  wars  never  fail  to  agitate  profoundly  the 
general  bosom  of  mankind.  But  there  is  a  rumor  of  another 
war  infinitely  more  dire  than  any,  between  man  and  his  Maker. 
It  is  long  since  this  war  has  broken  out;  for  thousands  of 
years  it  has  been  raging ;  and  we  see  no  signs  of  its  immediate 
cessation.  Men  perceive  not  that  all  their  other  miseries  pro- 
ceed from  this  feud ;  they  seem  not  aware  that  the  cruelty  of 
all  other  wars,  the  agony  of  all  other  scourges,  are  just  scintil- 
lations from  the  battle-field  where  they  and  their  Creator  are 
arrayed  against  one  another.  Let  this  feud  be  healed,  and 
there  will  be  no  need  to  entertain  terror  of  this  despot  or  of 
that;  to  build  barricades,  or  lavish  treasures  on  forts  and  men- 
of-war.  Diplomacy  is  spending  all  its  strength  in  vain,  while 
it  merely  occupies  itself  with  the  difi'erenccs  between  States. 
Holy  alliances  may  exercise  the  spirit  of  war  in  one  direction, 
but  speedily  it  will  reveal  itself  in  another.  There  must  be 
peace  between  man  and  his  Creator ;  then,  and  then  only,  will 
the  nations  understand  one  another,  and  perceive  that  they 
have  one  common  interest. 

Blessed  be  God,  we  have  a  Peace-maker,  who  gave  himself 
that  man  might  be  reconciled  to  Grod.  His  coming  was  the 
expression  of  God's  amity.  The  flag  of  truce  is  held  out  to 
the  world.  The  friends  of  peace  are  running  to  and  fro  in  the 
earth,  informing  men  that  by  simple  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  207 

Christ,  tlieir  accumulated  sins  shall  be  done  away ;  that  they 
shall  be  held  justified,  and  shall  have  the  peace  of  God  which 
passeth  all  understanding. 


June  17. — "To  them  who  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing  seek 
for  glory  and  honor  and  immortality,  eternal  life." — Romans  ii,  7. 

The  path  of  faith  and  that  of  well-doing  are  not  diverse 
from  each  other ',  they  are  one.  A  man  that  is  in  the  path  of 
well-doing,  and  for  whose  deeds  there  is  ever  and  anon  drop- 
ping from  the  lips  of  God  the  expression,  "  Well  done  V  is 
already  saved  in  an  important  sense.  He  has  regained  the 
footing  from  whence  the  world  by  transgression  fell.  He  has 
certainly  a  large  instalment  of  salvation.  But,  it  is  faith  that 
brought  him  into  this  heavenward  path,  and  that  enables  him 
to  continue  therein.  It  is  faith  that  led  him  to  renounce  all 
dependence  upon  his  own  miserable  works,  and  to  avail  him- 
self of  the  works  of  Christ  to  obtain  acceptance  with  God,  and 
the  freedom  of  that  sacred  path.  It  is  faith  that  enables  him 
to  see  the  incomparable  superiority  over  everything  that  the 
world  can  offer,  of  those  grand  prizes  held  up  before  him  by 
the  Lord  of  all ;  to  see  glory,  honor,  and  immortality  where 
they  really  are,  where  they  exclusively  are  for  man,  in  the  new 
Jerusalem. 

There  are  many  who  are  seeking  for  glory,  honor,  and  im- 
mortality in  very  different  paths  from  that  of  which  we  are 
speaking.  By  the  path  of  well-doing,  we  mean,  in  one  word, 
the  path  of  God's  will ;  and  all  doing  that  is  not  strictly  mo- 
delled on  this,  we  reject :  though  it  might  seem  to  be  such  do- 
ing as  would  regenerate  a  continent,  reclaim  a  Sahara,  or  ban- 
ish the  deadliest  plagues. 

Nothing  in  all  the  success  that  has  waited  upon  Satan  in 
his  management  of  the  vrorld's  affairs,  is  so  saddening  to  con- 
template, as  the  false  direction  he  has  been  enabled  to  give  to 


208  DAILY    iMEDITATIONS. 

the  eutliusiasm  of  men.  EnthiTsiasm  is  a  beautiful  and  sacred 
tiling,  implanted  in  us  that  we  might  launch  forth  on  sublime 
enterprises  of  mercy  to  man  and  of  glory  to  God.  Enthusiasm 
would  make  of  a  holy  man  a  seraph.  Men  hardly  know  what 
to  do  with  this  divine  faculty.  They  thirst  for  glory,  honor, 
immortality,  but  limit  their  conceptions  of  these  things  to  what 
the  world,  the  fallen,  ruined,  doomed  world  can  give.  As 
though  a  criminal  on  his  way  to  the  place  of  execution,  should 
concern  himself  to  obtain  honor  and  glory  from  his  fellow- 
criminals.  A  world  that  rose  up  in  utmost  ferocity  against 
the  only  faultless,  the  only  truly  glorious  being  that  ever  trod 
its  soil,  is  not  a  world  competent  to  decide  where  glory  should 
be  sought,  what  deeds  are  truly  honorable,  what  immortality 
is  worthy  of  man's  utmost  endeavor.  It  having  rejected  the 
elect  of  heaven,  the  only  man  found  heroic  in  the  eyes  of  God, 
we  can  turn  away  from  its  heroes,  and  think  lightly  of  its 
honorable  ones. 

June  18. — "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be 
saved." — Acts  xvi.  31. 

And  is  this  so  difficult  ?  Does  your  heart  find  itself  com- 
petent to  everything,  rather  than  this  ?  Oh,  what  a  reproach 
to  you !  In  fact,  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  any  more  se- 
vere condemnation  than  that  which  you  pass  upon  yourself, 
and  day  by  day  reiterate,  while  you  continue  not  to  believe  on 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  You  are  asked  to  take  his  righteous- 
ness in  preference  to  your  own  -,  his  wisdom  rather  than  your 
own;  his  influence  at  the  throne  of  God  rather  than  your  own. 
You  are  asked  to  become  the  servant  of  Christ,  rather  than 
continue  the  servant  of  sin ;  to  be  the  friend  of  Christ,  rather 
than  the  friend  of  Satan ;  and  to  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  free  you  from  the  control  of  unclean  spirits.  You 
are  asked  to  choose  him  whom  the  good  have  chosen ;  him 
whom  all  the  angels,  the  most  exalted  of  finite  beings ;  whom 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  209 

God  himself  has  ehoscn.  You  refuse ;  and  choose  rather  to 
identify  yourself  with  the  multitude  that  crucified  him.  The 
blackest  catalogue  of  crimes  cannot  more  truly  condemn  a 
man,  than  the  fact  that  you  believe  not  on  Jesus  Christ 
condemns  you.  Your  character  comes  out  dark,  base,  odious, 
by  this  one  fact.  In  vain  you  pretend  to  have  love  for  your 
fellow-men,  while  you  declare,  as  you  emphatically  do,  "  Not 
this  man  I"  "Were  a  vessel  freighted  with  provisions  to  ap- 
proach an  island  whose  inhabitants  were  dying  with  starva- 
tion, what  would  you  think  of  him  who  should  refuse  to  co- 
operate in  bringing  her  to  shore  ?  And  what  must  be  thouglit 
of  him  who  cannot  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ?  You 
may  for  the  present  be  deemed  respectable ;  but  a  day  is 
coming  when  Christ  will  be  known  as  the  touchstone  of  mo- 
rality, and  all  who  are  without  affinity  with  him,  will  be  known 
as  utterly  reprobate. 


JuxE  19. — "While  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us." — Rom.  v.  8. 

Imagine  a  number  of  men  whose  hearts  are  filled  with  bit- 
terness against  their  sovereign,  and,  in  a  certain  chamber,  are 
industriously  laboring  at  the  construction  of  an  infernal  ma- 
chine, to  be  exploded  on  some  approaching  day  when  the  sove- 
reign is  to  pass  that  way.  The  heart  of  this  sovereign,  say,  is 
kindness  itself.  He  receives  information  of  what  these  men 
are  doing.  Disguising  himself  he  comes  among  them,  and 
succeeds  in  convincing  them  that  he  is  friendly,  and  will  prove 
a  valuable  confederate.  They  receive  him  into  their  band, 
initiate  him  fully  into  their  projects,  and  take  his  advice  on 
many  points.  lie  soon  obtains  a  great  influence  over  them. 
They  are  struck  with  the  superiority  of  his  character,  the  gene- 
rosity that  beams  in  all  his  words  and  acts.  He  labors  assidu- 
ously to  do  them  good;  relieves  their  wants;  visits  their 
families  that  he  may  confer  benefits  upon  them.  His  resources 
18* 


210  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

appear  boundless,  but  not  greater  than  his  beneficence.  When 
injured  or  insulted,  he  exhibits  an  astonishing  patience ;  and  in 
fine,  by  a  purity  and  magnanimity  such  as  they  have  never 
witnessed,  he  succeeds  in  inspiring  them  with  the  utmost  ad- 
miration. And  day  by  day  he  labors  with  them  in  perfecting 
that  machine  that  is  to  be  levelled  against  himself.  They 
unanimously  agree  that  he  shall  be  their  sovereign,  when  they 
have  killed  the  reigning  one,  and  that  he  shall  distribute  among 
them  the  offices  of  the  State  just  as  may  seem  good  to  him.  At 
length  the  day  arrives ;  and  as  the  hour  approaches,  when  the 
king  should  pass  that  way,  they  wonder  what  has  become  of 
their  generous  friend.  Suddenly  he  appears  among  them; 
throws  off  his  disguise,  and  the  sovereign  stands  revealed.  "  I 
come,"  he  says,  "  to  save  you  from  a  great  crime,  and  from  a 
fearful  doom.  You  have  already  chosen  me  to  be  your  sove- 
reign, and  sworn  to  submit  with  delight  to  all  my  commands. 
I  command  that  you  shall  come  and  dwell  with  me  in  my 
palace.  While  you  have  been  preparing  this  engine  for  my 
destruction,  I  have  been  preparing  sumptuous  apartments  for 
your  abode.  I  will  associate  with  you  as  your  friend,  even  as 
I  have  done,  and  will  do  my  best  to  fit  you  to  fill  the  highest 
offices  of  State." 

Now,  the  thing  that  will  most  surprise  these  men,  is  the  fact 
that  while  they  were  sinners,  while  they  were  laboring  for  the 
death  of  their  sovereign,  he  in  secret  was  earnestly  laboring 
for  their  highest  good.  And  this  is  the  thing  that  should  most 
surprise  us  when  we  come  to  Christ,  namely,  the  fact  that  while 
we  were  rearing  higher  the  mountains  of  our  iniquity,  he  was 
engaged  in  carrying  out  a  scheme  of  the  most  transcendant 
mercy  and  kindness  toward  us. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  211 

June  20. — "Be  of  good  courage,  and  he  shall  strengthen  your  heart." — 
Psalm  xxxi.  24. 

Before  you  are  conscious  of  any  strength  in  your  heart, 
while  you  feel  yourself  exceedingly  weak  and  utterly  incom- 
petent, even  then  you  are  to  be  of  good  courage.  It  requires 
very  little  true  courage  to  be  bold  when  there  is  the  conscious- 
ness of  strength.  The  courage  that  is  well-pleasirig  in  the 
sight  of  G  od,  is  the  courage  of  faith ;  the  courage  of  David, 
whose  sling  and  stone  were  nothing,  but  who  trusted  simply  in 
God. 

Nothing  is  more  essential  to  the  Christian  than  good  cour- 
age. He  needs  in  the  first  place  courage  to  go  into  the  presence 
of  his  sovereign,  nothing  daunted,  however  much  humbled,  by 
the  thought  of  his  unworthiness,  assured  that  all  the  virtue 
of  Christ  is  available  for  him.  He  needs  courage  to  cancel  the 
various  articles  of  the  compact  of  sin  between  him  and  the 
world ;  to  come  out  from  it  and  be  separate ;  to  be  peculiar ; 
to  confess  that  he  has  transferred  his  allegiance  to  the  crucified 
and  risen  one.  He  needs  courage  to  break  with  the  god  of 
this  world,  and  adopt  the  badge  of  the  revolutionists  who  are 
seeking  his  overthrow.  He  needs  courage  to  speak  to  those 
whom  he  loves,  of  their  great  need.  He  needs  courage  to 
manifest  the  new  and  better  nature  that  has  been  given  him. 
He  needs  it  to  advance  in  a  path  of  duty  where  there  is  no 
pioneer,  with  only  a  chart  for  the  day,  and  no  intimation  of  the 
morrow's  perils. 

JuxK  21. — "His  anger  endureth  but  a  moment;  in  his  favor  is  life." — 
Psalm  XXX.  5. 

The  idea  is,  that  his  anger  is  fugitive,  his  favor  perennial. 
The  contrast  is  between  the  words  moment  and  life.  The  con- 
trast is  sustained  in  what  follows  :  "  Weeping  may  endure  for 
a  night,  but  joy  coraeth  in  the  morning,"  even  in  the  morning 
of  a  day,  whose  sun  shall  never  go  down.     Paul  renews  it  in 


212  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

the  words,  "  Our  liglit  affliction,  wliicli  is  but  for  a  moment, 
worketli  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of 
glory."  As  the  ages  of  our  prospective  existence  unfold  to  us, 
the  misery  of  our  mortal  span  will  be  reduced  by  an  easy 
arithmetical  progression,  to  something  utterly  infinitesimal. 
Seventy  years  of  suffering  are  not  very  much  in  an  existence 
that  reaches  to  a  thousand  years ;  far  from  much,  when  pro- 
portioned to  a  period  of  ten  thousand  years;  in  a  hundred 
thousand  years  they  are  but  as  a  drop  to  the  bucket ;  in  mil- 
lions of  years  as  a  drop  to  the  ocean,  a  mere  thought,  a  flash 
of  lightning;  in  eternity,  what? 

You  venture  to  observe,  perhaps,  that  man  is  so  constituted 
that  the  present  is  to  him  necessarily  like  a  mountain  bound- 
ing his  vision,  and  that  he  cannot  be  greatly  affected  by  the 
conception  of  unending  plains  stretching  beyond. 

To  man's  true  constitution  belongs  faith,  by  means  of  which 
he  soars  aloft  and  looks  down  upon  his  past,  present,  and  fu- 
ture. Observe,  that  the  momentary  anger  bears  a  most  im- 
portant relation  to  the  eternal  favor.  It  is  that  you  may  be 
led  to  press  more  eagerly  towards  this,  and  battle  more  bravely 
with  the  enemies  that  would  cut  you  off  from  it,  that  weeping 
is  given  to  you  for  a  night. 

In  all  God's  anger  to  his  people  there  is  mercy.  It  is  an 
Unspeakable  condescension  in  him  to  be  angry.  He  might  just 
put  forth  his  power  and  sweep  you  away  into  everlasting 
misery.  But  no  !  he  deigns  to  express  to  you  his  displeasure. 
Thus  did  he  even  to  the  Ninevites ;  and  they  inferred  that  he 
might,  after  all,  pardon  them. 


JuxE  22.—"  Teach  me  thy  way,  0  Lord."— Psalm  xxvii.  11. 

It  will  hardly  be  denied  by  any  reflecting  person  that  it  is 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  there  is  Tor  every  human  being  a 
particular  line  of  procedure  which  commends  itself  to  God  as 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  213 

the  best,  and  every  deviation-  from  wliich  is  a  deviation  from 
tliat  wliich  is  best.  When  we  consider  how  admirably  God 
has  organized  man,  how  richly  he  has  endowed  him,  with  what 
authority  he  has  invested  him,  and  with  what  appliances  he 
has  surrounded  him ;  when  we  consider  what  an  infinitude  of 
wise  and  good  thoughts  God  has  bestowed  in  the  preparation 
of  man  for  life ;  can  we  believe  that  God  has  no  particular  will 
in  regard  to  the  way  in  which  that  life  should  be  spent  ?  We 
should  be  greatly  surprised  if  a  man  should  expend  an  im- 
mense sum  of  money  in  the  building  of  a  ship ;  employ  the 
most  skilful  artificers  in  perfecting  her  with  respect  to  a  thou- 
sand anticipated  necessities  3  render  her  strong,  beautiful,  swift, 
commodious ;  and  then  launch  her  and  leave  her  to  float  at 
random  over  the  waters,  without  any  commander,  without  any 
instructions.  Yet  this  appears  to  be  the  idea  that  many  in- 
considerate persons  entertain  of  human  existence.  They  sup- 
pose that  man  is  left  without  a  chart,  without  instruetions ; 
and  leave  it  to  be  inferred  that  God  is  the  most  inconsistent  of 
all  beings.  Ask  them  why  they  suppose  so;  if  they  have 
searched  for  the  will  of  God,  and  found  none ;  if  they  have 
sincerely  asked  God  for  instructions,  and  obtained  no  answer ; 
if  they  have  been  cordially  willing  to  leave  unto  God  the  full 
control  of  their  earthly  existence ;  and  they  will  be  obliged  to 
reply  that  they  have  not.  Not  only  have  they  not  sought,  they 
have  not  been  willing  to  see. 

We  know,  however,  that  God  has  a  will  with  regard  to  every 
man,  a  will  that  takes  note  of  every  conceivable  particular.  We 
know  that  he  is  disposed  to  make  known  this  will,  and  dis- 
posed also  to  teach  us  to  do  it. 

He  teaches  us  to  do  it  by  making  us  sensible  of  our  incom- 
petency to  guide  ourselves.  One  after  another,  signal  mistakes 
occur,  to  show  us  how  absolutely  we  need  a  guide  more  intelli- 
gent than  ourselves.  We  get  disgusted  with  our  own  ignorance 
and  short-sightedness.     We  are  like  a  man  who  finds  himself 


214  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

in  the  midst  of  a  vast  factory,  crowded  with  the  most  compli- 
cated and  ponderous  machinery,  where  mighty  engines  of  death 
threaten  him  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left,  before  and 
behind ;  he  makes  a  step  in  one  direction,  and  receives  a  fright- 
ful blow ;  in  another,  and  gets  dreadfully  lacerated ;  then  he 
cries  out  in  agony  for  some  one  to  take  him  by  the  hand  and 
lead  him. 

He  teaches  us  to  do  it  by  showing  us  the  incompetency  of 
others  to  guide  us.  Some  persons  are  conscious  of  their  in- 
aptitude, and  look  to  others  to  show  them  what  to  do  with  life. 
They  turn  to  Plato  or  Socrates,  to  Seneca  or  Confucius,  to 
Carlyle  or  to  La  Rochefoucauld,  to  this  novelist  or  to  that.  In 
fact,  there  is  hardly  any  one  desirous  of  teaching  but  has  some 
scholars.  But,  alas !  they  find  no  way  that  is  in  any  degree 
irreproachable.     Life  is  with  them  a  succession  of  bruises  and 


H^  teaches  us  to  do  his  will,  by  letting  us  see  it  acted  out  in 
the  beautiful  life  of  Christ. — By  giving  us  to  understand  that 
this  will  has  reference,  first  and  last,  in  great  matters  and  small, 
to  our  own  best  estate  and  most  assured  happiness. — By  un- 
folding to  us  the  Scriptures. — By  writing  his  word  in  our  hearts. 
— By  teaching  us  to  abide  in  Christ. — By  giving  the  Spirit  to 
abide  in  us. 

Juke  23. — "  Whosoever  believeth  on  him,  shall  not  be  ashamed." — Ro- 
mans ix.  33. 

After  all,  there  is  nothing  that  men  detest  so  much  as  a 
feeling  of  shame.  We  hear  a  great  deal  of  calamities,  be- 
reavements, losses,  sorrows,  troubles,  and  numerous  other  syno- 
nyms ;  but  all  these  are  not  near  so  odious  to  a  man  as  a  feel- 
ing of  shame.  There  is  not  any  calamity  that  men  have  not 
accepted  in  preference  to  a  momentary  feeling  of  shame.  A 
feeling  of  shame  in  the  mind  of  a  man  v/ould  make  him  insen- 
sible to  the  loss  of  his  father,  or  of  an}^  other  very  dear  friend; 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  215 

to  the  loss  of  property ;  nay,  to"  the  loss  of  a  kingdom.  Thou- 
sands have  come  up  to  the  door  which  opens  on  the  path  that 
goes  to  everlasting  life,  and  have  seen  that  they  were  in  danger 
of  everlasting  burnings,  and  have  yet  accepted  of  this  danger 
rather  than  encounter  the  brief  shame  of  entering. 

So  potent  a  principle  has  not  been  implanted  in  us  for  noth- 
ing. It  was  designed  to  be  of  unspeakable  advantage  to  us. 
And  the  Christian  should  seek  that  it  may  be  as  great  an  aid 
as  it  has  been  a  hindrance  to  him.  True  shame  creates  in  us 
a  horror  of  ever^i^hing  that  may  bring  upon  us  the  reproach 
of  an  enlightened  conscience,  the  scorn  of  the  holy,  the  re- 
nunciation of  God.  The  soul  has  no  more  blessed  guarantee, 
under  the  grace  of  God,  than  the  presence  of  true  shame  in 
the  heart.  This  will  never  for  a  moment  allow  us  to  blush  for 
what  is  not  morally  wrong,  not  a  wilful  transgression  of  the 
will  of  God.  This  will  suffer  us  to  pay  no  tribute  to  the  mere 
conventionalities  of  life.  This  will  keep  us  without  guile; 
enable  us  to  walk  without  any  cloak  over  our  conduct ;  and  to 
regard  with  perfect  equanimity  the  world's  misapprehension 
of  our  conduct. 

A  day  is  coming  when  self-condemning  shame,  shame  inex- 
tinguishable, intolerable,  soul-pervading,  will  take  possession 
of  those  who  have  not  believed  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
And  all  the  shame  that  they  have  ever  shrunk  from  in  the 
journey  of  life,  will  retui'u  multiplied  ten  thousand  times,  and 
establish  itself  in  their  souls  to  go  no  more  out  for  ever.  Think 
of  this,  ye  proud  ones,  that  daily  avoid  some  path  of  duty  from 
some  feeling  of  shame.  You  hold  your  heads  erect  among 
ungodly  men,  but  it  is  at  a  fearfiil  cost.  What  you  refuse  to 
experience  is  now  but  seed ;  it  will  grow  to  a  whirlwind. 


216  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

June  24. — "  Much  more,  being  reconciled,  we  shall  be  saved  by  his 
life." — Romans  r.  10. 

If  we  owe  mucli  to  the  death  of  Christ,  we  owe  much  more 
to  his  life.  It  were  little  to  give  us  the  freedom  of  the  uni- 
verse, if  in  that  universe  we  could  not  find  Christ.  It  were 
little  to  give  us  immortality,  if  there  were  no  Sun  of  Right- 
eousness to  make  that  immortality  glorious  and  beautiful.  It 
would  be  like  discovering  some  unknown  friend  in  his  dying 
hour ;  we  have  hardly  time  to  acquaint  ourself  with  his  amaz- 
ing love,  and  to  see  the  flash  of  his  kindness  illuminating  our 
life,  before  he  is  removed  by  death,  and  we  are  left  to  a  deso- 
lation greater  than  we  had  ever  known  before,  because  of  the 
moral  beauty  and  the  heart  of  love  that  had  for  a  moment 
revealed  themselves. 

The  death  of  Christ  was  one  exhibition  of  the  love  of 
Christ;  he  lives  that  he  may,  forever  and  forever,  give  us 
newer,  still  newer,  still  newer  expressions  of  his  unfailing 
goodness.  Being  reconciled,  there  is  no  longer  anything  to 
hinder  the  forthflowing  of  the  divine  beneficence  toward  us. 
God  is  love ;  and  we  belong  to  the  number  of  those  whose 
whole  business  in  life,  in  everlasting  life,  is  to  be  making  ad- 
vances in  the  experience  of  God's  love.  But  there  will  be 
ever  something  special  in  the  manner  by  which  we  have  be- 
come reconciled,  to  make  us  singularly  dear  to  God  and  to 
Christ.  He  hath  graven  our  names  upon  the  palms  of  his 
hands.  He  was  pierced  for  us.  We  were  chosen  in  such  a 
furnace  of  affliction  as  had  never  been  kindled  by  Babylonian 
kings.  He  can  never  look  upon  us  without  the  thought  of 
what  he  sufiered  to  bring  us  nigh  unto  God. 


'  June  25. — "  If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us  ?" — Rom.  viii.  31. 

If  God  be  for  us,  we  are  justified  in  making  light  of  all  our 
enemies.     Any  injury  that  they  can  do  us  is  of  little  account, 


DAILY    MEDITATIO^'S.  217 

while  we  have  this  all-powerful  ally.  This  seems  a  mere  tru- 
ism ;  but  it  is  really  the  language  of  an  uncommon  faith.  He 
goes  on  to  enumerate  tribulation,  persecution,  distress,  famine, 
nakedness,  peril,  the  sword.  Now,  these  things  involve  tre- 
mendous losses ;  loss  of  honor,  friends,  domestic  and  social  en- 
joyments, wealth,  liberty,  security,  and  even  food  and  clothing. 
Before  the  thousandth  part  of  these  evils,  the  boldest  hearts 
have  recoiled,  the  strongest  have  turned  and  fled.  The  assur- 
ance that  God  would  be  with  them  had  no  more  power  to  nerve 
and  comfort  them,  than  if  a  shield  made  of  cobwebs  had  been 
presented  to  them.  The  language  of  Paul  is  the  language 
then  of  one  whose  faith  has  taught  him  to  find  ever}i:hing  ex- 
cellent, everything  desirable  in  God.  In  vain  the  world  arrays 
its  forces,  puts  on  its  terrors ;  he  knows  the  utter  insignificance 
of  these  compared  with  the  treasures  of  might  that  dwell  with 
him,  because  God  dwells  with  him. 

When  the  Israelites  came  out  of  Egypt,  the  entire  force  of 
Egypt  was  against  them.  The  sea  was  against  them.  The 
desert  was  against  them.  The  Amalekites  were  against  them. 
All  nations  were  against  them.  Their  own  inexperience,  their 
waywardness,  their  evil  habits, — these  were  against  them.  But 
God  was  with  them.  And  they  came  off  more  than  conquerors. 
Thus  it  was  with  the  apostles.  The  Jews  were  against  them, 
and  so  were  the  Gentiles.  Stripes,  bonds,  and  imprisonment 
awaited  them  in  every  place.  The  power  of  the  priesthood 
was  against  them.  All  the  powers  of  an  empire,  the  mightiest 
the  world  had  ever  seen,  were  against  them.  Yet  they  tri- 
umphed.    God  was  with  them,  and  none  but  God. 

Had  the  church  a  faith  more  apostolic,  there  would  not  be 
seen,  as  there  is,  alas!  too  much,  a  disposition  to  snatch  at 
worldly  aid,  and  to  avail  ourselves  of  worldly  wisdom.  We 
need  to  know  that  he  who  is  with  us  is  mightier  than  they 
that  are  in  the  world.  Knew  we  this  better,  we  would  enter 
19 


218  DAILY    .MEDITATIONS. 

many  paths  from  which  we  now  turn  away ;  address  ourselves 
to  many  tasks  to  which  we  now  shut  our  eyes. 


June  26. — "  Quench  not  the  Spirit." — 1  Thessalonians  v.  19. 

This  is  the  utterance  of  the  Spirit,  and  teaches,  if  language 
can  teach  anything,  that  the  influences  of  the  Spirit  may  be 
lost.  His  presence  is  as  the  existence  of  a  heaven-born  flame 
in  the  heart,  which  needs  to  be  carefully  watched  and  guarded, 
which,  if  its  proper  aliment  be  withheld,  will  die  out.  The 
language  of  Scripture  from  beginning  to  end,  is  perfectly  con- 
sistent with  itself,  though  the  points  that  establish  this  con- 
sistency are  not  thrust  conspicuously  forward.  Scripture  is 
exceedingly  bold,  far  more  bold  than  our  theological  systems ; 
and  while  it  dwells  on  any  truth,  gives  that  truth  all  its  ap- 
propriate magnitude,  its  fullness  of  honor,  without  fearing  that 
some  other  truth  may  thus  suffer  loss.  The  sovereignty  of  God, 
the  dependence  of  man,  the  safety  of  the  elect,  the  perseverance 
of  the  saints, — these  things  are  declared  with  the  utmost  posi- 
tiveness ;  the  obligation  of  men  to  believe,  to  walk  by  faith,  to 
exercise  all  Christian  affections,  to  grow  in  grace,  to  bring  forth 
fruit,  to  resist  temptation,  to  work  out  their  own  salvation, — 
these  things  also  are  stated  in  a  most  emphatic  manner.  To 
deny  the  one  class  of  truths  is  just  as  fatal  as  to  deny  the  other. 
The  Spirit  of  God  is  omnipotent,  the  purposes  of  God  are  ab- 
solute ;  but  if  an  individual  obey  not  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit, 
he  will  quench  the  Spirit.  The  man  that  discards  the  word 
"if"  from  his  theology,  has  no  longer  a  Bible.  If  a  man  mock 
the  word  of  God,  by  saying  that  the  Spirit  may  not  be 
quenched,  there  is  reason  to  fear  lest  he  have  already  quenched 
the  Spirit.   ' 

In  order  that  you  may  not  quench  the  Spirit,  you  must 
make  it  a  constant  study  to  know  what  is  the  mind  of  the 
Spirit.     You  must  discriminate  with  the  utmost  care  between 


DAILY   MEDITATIOXS.  219 

his  suggestions  and  the  suggestions  of  your  own  deceitful 
heart.  You  will  keep  in  constant  recollection  what  are  the 
offices  of  the  Spirit,  as  described  by  Christ  in  the  gospel  of 
John.  You  will  be  on  your  guard  against  impulsive  move- 
ments, inconsiderate  acts,  rash  words.  You  will  abide  in 
prayer.  Search  the  word.  Confess  Christ  on  all  possible  oc- 
casions. Seek  the  society  of  his  people.  Shrink  from  con- 
formity to  the  world,  its  vain  fashions,  unmeaning  etiquette. 
Be  scrupulous  in  your  reading.  "  What  I  say  unto  you,  I  say 
unto  all.  Watch  !"  "  Have  oil  in  your  lamps."  '*  Quench  not 
the  Spirit." 


June  27. — "Much  more  they  which  receive  abundance  of  grace  and  of 
the  gift  of  righteousness,  shi4I  reign  in  life  by  one,  Jesus  Christ." — 
Romans  v.  17. 

The  object  is  to  show  that  Christ  has  much  more  than  re- 
paired the  ruin  wrought  by  Adam,  in  the  case  of  all  those  who 
avail  themselves  of  the  salvation  wrought  out  by  him.  Instead 
of  the  one  throne  where  Death  sat  and  swayed  the  destinies 
of  man,  there  are  now  myriads,  millions  of  thrones,  on  each  of 
which  a  believer  is  to  sit  and  give  the  universe  a  visible  de- 
monstration of  what  Christ  can  bestow  upon  the  soul  that 
comes  to  him. 

First,  he  is  to  receive  abundance  of  grace,  and  of  the  gift 
of  righteousness.  It  is  impossible  for  him  to  receive  this 
without  the  renunciation  of  his  own  imagined  goodness, 
strength,  and  glory.  He  must  be  emptied  of  self;  impover- 
ished with  respect  to  all  that  he  has  called  wealth;  ruined 
with  respect  to  all  that  he  has  called  life,  honor,  and  excel- 
lence. He  dies.  He  lives  again.  The  full  tide  of  God's 
abounding  grace  finds  itself  now  at  liberty  to  flow  into  his 
soul.  He  follows  the  highway  of  holiness.  He  has  a  white 
stone  with  a  strange  inscription,  in  exchange  for  which  he  is 
to  receive  a  crown  of  far  more  than   imperial  dignity,  at  the 


220  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

treasury  of  liGc^ven.  When  asked  if  he  is  a  king,  lie,  like  his 
Lord,  replies,  "  Tliou  sayest  it;"  and  if  you  choose,  you  may 
mock  him  as  men  did  his  Lord ;  he  cannot,  however,  but  bear 
witness  to  the  truth. 

Thus  there  are  millions  of  kings,  and  each  of  them  immea- 
surably more  exalted  than  any  king  of  earth  ever  was.  Do 
3'Ou  ask,  over  whom  they  are  to  reign  ?  Know  that  it  does 
not  become  the  kings  of  Christ's  appointment,  to  reign  over 
any  but  kings.  All  their  subjects  are  kings.  For  they  are 
all  subjects  to  each.  This  is  one  badge  of  their  kingdom,  that 
they  in  honor  prefer  one  another,  and  that  each  finds  his  hap- 
piness in  consecration  to  the  good  of  others. 


June  28. — "  I  know  thy  works,  and  thy  labor,  and  thy  patience,  and 
how  thou  canst  not  bear  them  that  are  evil." — Revelation  ii.  2. 

How  many  thousands  are  striving,  by  the  sweat  of  their 
brow,  by  sleepless  nights,  by  sacrifices  of  health  and  wealth,  by 
bitter  mental  toil,  by  the  unflagging  consecration  of  all  their 
powers,  to  win  the  attention  of  men,  and  are  striving  in  vain. 
What  disappointments  pour  daily  upon  them  without  inducing 
them  to  seek  another  goal  for  their  hopes.  "  The  spurns  that 
patient  merit  of  the  unworthy  takes,"  do  not  extinguish  the 
hope  of  winning  from  this  unworthy  world,  sooner  or  later, 
some  slight  acknowledgment  of  the  powers  now  so  unsuccess- 
fully exerted.  How  many  nobly-endowed  spii'its  live  and  labor 
under  the  constraining  influence  of  the  hope,  for  the  most  part 
delusive,  that  the  world  will  one  day  say  to  them,  '•  I  know 
your  works."  To  die  unknown,  is  the  one  lake  of  fire  which 
they  unresistingly  seek  to  escape.  Ask  them  if  they  will  not 
avail  themselves  of  the  consolation  so  certainly  obtained  by 
those  that  seek  it.  the  consolation  of  being  known  to  Christ, 
and  they  will  laugh  you  to  scorn. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  true  people  of  Christ  are  stirred  to 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  221 

tlieir  inmost  deptlis  by  the  belief  that  he,  the  Lord  of  glory, 
kaows  their  works,  their  labor  and  their  patience.  Their 
works  are  not  appreciated  by  men ;  they  are  spoken  against  as 
evil  doers ;  they  spend  their  strength  for  naught,  so  far  as  the 
applause  of  men  is  concerned;  but  they  are  rewarded  abun- 
dantly in  the  thought  that  Jesus  knows  their  works.  The 
words  "  labor"  and  "  patience"  seem  to  qualify  the  word 
"  works."  What  they  do  for  Christ  they  do  energetically, 
with  heart  and  strength,  and  they  persevere  in  the  doing  of  it, 
no  matter  how  many  hinderances  and  chilling  influences  pre- 
sent themselves. 

Christ  is  jealous  when  he  sees  any  servant  of  his,  making 
great  account  of  the  pj-aise  of  others,  happy  or  troubled  as  he 
obtains  it  or  misses  it,  discontented  when  there  is  only  the  ap- 
probation of  Christ,  and  allowing  the  applause  of  Christians  to 
hide  from  him  the  dissatisfaction  of  Christ.  Teach  me,  0  Lord, 
cost  what  it  may,  to  find  the  peace  which  passeth  all  under- 
standing in  the  assurance  of  thy  regard  for  the  poor  service 
thou  enablest  me  to  render.  Let  me  not  be  willing  that  the 
incentives  derived  from  prospects  held  out  by  this  rebellious, 
sinful  world,  should  succeed  in  animating  others  to  deeds  of 
greater  devotion  and  consecration,  than  shall  be  elicited  from 
me  by  the  anticipation  of  that  gTceting  which  thou  wilt  extend 
to  him  that  overcomes,  keeping  thy  works  unto  the  end 


June  29. — "  Thou  shalt  compass  me  about  with  songs  of  deliverance.'' — 
Psalm  xxxii.  7. 

If  one  want  poetry,  there  is  a  whole  poem  in  these  few 
words.  Heaven,  earth;  time,  eternity;  saints,  angels;  the 
redeemed  soul ;  its  sins,  passions,  frailties,  woes,  miseries  fleeing 
in  the  distance; — such,  and  more,  are  the  characters  and  the 
scenery  presented  to  our  imagination,  or  to  our  faith,  as  we 
gaze  into  this  verse.  Perhaps  some  reminiscence  of  what  he 
19  * 


222  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

had  himself  experienced  in  his  earthly  career,  visited  the  mind 
of  David,  and  assisted  him  to  form  a  bright  conception  of  what 
Grod  would  do  for  him  hereafter.  He  may  have  recalled  the 
morning  when  his  offer  to  go  forth  and  meet  Goliath,  elicited 
only  shouts  of  derision;  and  the  evening  of  the  same  day^ 
when  he  was  compassed  about  with  songs  of  deliverance  ut- 
tered by  the  host  of  the  Israelites,  while  the  surviving  Philis- 
tines were  fleeing  overwhelmed  with  confusion,  to  their  own 
borders. 

A  person  known  to  us  once  had  a  dream,  which  may  help 
to  illustrate  the  text.  He  had  been  very  recently  brought  to 
the  knowledge  of  Christ's  saving  truth.  He  dreamt  that  he 
found  himself  in  an  open  plain;  when  suddenly  a  terrible 
being  appeared,  from  whom  he  felt  that  he  must  escape,  if  he 
would  not  forever  perish.  The  only  object  that  his  eye  could 
discern  was  a  small  and  rather  mean-looking  house.  To  this 
he  fled ;  entered  it ;  and  feeling  that  he  was  pursued,  passed 
through  it,  and  through  a  yard,  that  was  attached  to  it.  Pres- 
ently he  found  himself  at  the  foot  of  a  mighty  precipice  that 
rose  as  perpendicularly  as  a  wall,  and  towered  above  the  skies. 
The  enemy  was  upon  him.  He  felt  that  he  must  go  up  this 
wall-like  precipice,  or  be  lost;  so  he  attempted  the  ascent. 
His  hands  were  here  of  no  use ;  for  there  was  nothing  for 
them  to  seize ;  and  he  had  to  plant  his  feet,  in  defiance  of  all 
laws  of  gravitation,  horizontally  against  the  wall.  Yet  ho  was 
actually  enabled  to  mount  up  in  this  way.  A  prodigious  effort 
was  needed  at  first;  (yet,  if  there  had  been  no  invisible  aid, 
what  could  even  a  prodigious  effort  have  accomplished  under 
such  circumstances  ?)  but  as  he  held  on  his  way,  and  mounted 
higher  and  higher,  even  into  the  skies,  the  task  became  less 
difiicult;  and  though  new  heights,  not  anticipated,  remained 
to  be  climbed,  yet  he  found  a  heart  to  climb  them  cheerfully 
and  hopefully.  At  length  he  reached  the  summit,  and  a  vision, 
glorious  beyond  description,  burst  upon  his  view.     A  multitude 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  223 

of  the  heavenly  host  were  there,  scattered  over  the  plain,  and 
crowded  upon  gentle  hills  that  overlooked  the  scene;  their 
eyes  were  all  on  him ;  and  they  all  burst  forth  with  songs  of 
deliverance  on  his  account ;  while  a  being  glorious  enough  to 
be  the  Lord  of  all  this  enraptured  host,  came  to  him  who  had 
there  arrived,  and  received  him,  as  he  fainted  through  the  force 
of  unspeakable  emotions,  and  bore  him  away  not  altogether 
insensible,  for  the  songs  of  the  jubilant  host  still  sounded  in 
his  ears. 


June  30. — "All  are  yours,  and  ye  are  Christ's." — 1  Corinthians  iii.  2.3. 

The  way  to  possess  unlimited  treasure  is  to  give  yourself 
away.  How  little  the  philosophers  who  sought  by  alchemy  to 
obtain  the  art  of  transmuting  mean  things  to  precious, — how 
little  did  they  dream  that  the  art  of  acquiring  worlds  of  wealth 
had  been  long  before  divulged,  and  that  it  consisted  simply  in 
giving  one's  self  away  to  Christ.  Men  are  victims  of  the 
unhappy  delusion  that  their  own  self  is  a  nucleus,  a  beginning 
of  wealth,  around  which  they  must  wrap  acquisition  after  ac- 
quisition, till  they  have  greatly  magnified  themselves.  In  this 
way,  however,  they  are  only  heaping  up  riches  for  the  last  day, 
only  fattening  themselves  for  the  slaughter.  Let  a  man  give 
himself,  and  all  belonging  to  himself,  to  Christ ;  foeling  at  the 
same  time  that  he  is  only  giving  what  he  had  never  any  right 
to  withhold,  what  it  were  the  most  audacious  usurpation  to 
think  for  a  moment  of  withholding;  let  him  rejoice  to  know 
Christ  as  the  Lord  of  all ;  and  in  that  very  hour  he  will  find 
himself  possessor  of  all.  All  things  were  made  for  Him,  it  is 
said;  that  is,  for  Christ;  and  if  for  Christ,  then  for  the  be- 
liever; for  the  two  are  joint-heirs. 

All  tilings  are  yours  ;  therefore  all  the  arrangements  of  God 
are  yours.  In  none  of  the  arrangements  of  Grod  is  your  hap- 
piness overlooked.     The  gold  and  silver  of  this  world  are  found 


224  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

abundantly  in  the  hands  of  others,  not  at  all  in  yours ; — well, 
this  is  one  of  those  arrangements  that  contemplate  your  good. 
Worldly  wealth  does  not  belong  to  those  who  seem  to  have  it ; 
but  to  those  who  get  the  good  of  it.  There  are  a  thousand 
little  conveniences  of  life  which  you  could  not  enjoy  ^ere  not 
other  men  rich  enough  to  embark  in  enterprises.  They  them- 
selves perhaps  receive  great  damage  from  the  wealth  that  they 
hold  during  the  brief  term  of  life ;  but  your  profit  from  it  all 
is  guaranteed  in  heaven.  All  things  are  yours ;  the  prosperity 
of  others,  your  own  adversity,  sickness,  humiliation,  losses,  the 
elements,  earth,  heaven,  time,  eternity. 

Your  chief  joy  is,  that  you  are  Christ's;  and  you  rejoice 
that  all  things  are  yours,  chiefly  because  they  will  serve  to 
make  you  a  less  unworthy  possession  to  Christ.  Holiness  is 
yours ;  the  image  of  God ;  spiritual,  moral,  and  physical  per- 
fection 3  a  crown  of  glory  that  fadeth  not  away ;  magnificent 
and  inconceivable  destinies.  Viewing  yourself  as  the  property 
of  Christ,  you  rejoice  for  his  sake  that  this  wondrous  wealth 
is  to  roll  in  upon  you,  and  that  the  mean  stone  is  to  be  con- 
verted into  a  pearl  of  great  price. 


July  1. — "Take  lieed,  and  beware  of  covetousness." — Luke  xii.  15. 

Our  Lord  calls  special  attention  to  the  danger  by  a  special 
admonition.  Out  of  that  little  band  that  accompanied  him, 
one  made  shipwreck  on  this  rock.  The  whole  life  of  Jesus 
was  cftst  into  a  mould  of  uttermost  hostility  to  it ;  and  the 
effect  was  seen  in  the  Pentecostal  Church,  where  no  man  called 
anything  his  own.  But  we  are  fallen  upon  very  different 
times ;  and  neither  the  example  nor  the  earnest  warnings  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles,  have  power  to  keep  down  this  spirit  in 
the  Church.  If  the  token  of  a  pure  Church  is  its  freedom 
from  covetousness.  then   is  the  Church  of  our  day  corrupt  in- 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  225 

deed.  The  parable  spoken  In -immediate  connection  with  these 
words,  shows  that  our  Lord  understands  by  covetousness,  the 
laying  up  of  much  goods  for  many  years,  and  rejoicing  in  that 
provision.  The  man  described  in  the  parable  did  not,  that  we 
are  told,  practise  extortion  or  commit  frauds  in  order  to  be 
rich ;  but  being,  in  the  providence  of  God,  made  rich  beyond 
all  his  present  wants,  chose  rather  to  consider  his  own  future 
possible  wants,  and  make  provision  for  them,  than  to  alleviate 
the  actual  wants  of  the  poor  around  about  him.  He  was  un- 
willing to  relinquish  money  that  he  did  not  now  want,  because 
suAime  might  come  when  he  would  want  it. 

The  Church  has  utterly  discarded  the  idea  that  there  is  any- 
thing in  the  word  of  God  to  hinder  her  from  seeking  any 
amount  of  wealth.  There  are  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands 
of  Christians,  whose  consciences  would  take  alarm  at  once,  at 
the  presence  of  sin  in  other  forms,  who  are  deterred  by  no 
manner  of  scruple  from  embarking  with  all  their  heart  in  the 
endeavor  to  accumulate  wealth  far  beyond  any  actual  and  even 
probable  wants.  "  They  pull  down  their  barns  and  build 
greater,"  without  a  single  ominous  reflection  coming  to  remind 
them  of  the  poor,  in  whose  barns  there  is  nothing. 

How  shall  a  man  beware  of  covetousness  ?  Let  him  learn 
to  look  upon  the  things  of  others,  to  occupy  himself  more  with 
the  greater  wants  of  others  than  with  his  own  lesser  wants,  to 
know  himself  as  simply  a  steward  of  the  goods  of  God,  and  to 
shrink  far  more  from  being  written  down  in  the  estimation  of 
heaven  "  a  fool,"  than  in  the  estimation  of  earth.  Had  the 
man  in  the  parable  pursued  any  other  course  than  he  did,5,men 
would  have  said  unto  him,  "thou  fool;"  but  how  infinitely 
more  dreadful  to  hear  it  from  God.  Let  the  Christian  know 
where  his  true  wealth  is ;  and  trust  God  with  his  future  wants. 
Has  faith  nothing  to  do  with  temporal  matters  ?  Who  can 
say  it  that  ever  read  the  word  of  God  ? 


226  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

July  2. — "Hide  not  thy  face  far  from  me." — Psalm  xxvii.  9. 

There  are  those  who  never  need  to  use  these  words,  because 
they  have  no  exjDerience  of  that  which  is  deprecated.  They 
know  not  what  is  meant  by  such  language  as  this :  "  Cause 
thy  face  to  shine  upon  me."  This  language  implies  a  personal 
acquaintance  with  a  personal  God.  It  teaches  that  Grod  is 
pleased  to  make  communications  of  his  grace  to  the  soul  of 
the  believer,  that  are  to  him  like  the  uplifting  of  a  veil  from 
the  face  of  the  one  beloved  and  adored.  We  ought  all  of  us 
to  have  far  higher  conceptions  than  we  have,  of  the  power  of 
Grod  to  manifest  himself  by  the  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
It  is  not  to  be  questioned  that  in  this  dispensation  we  are  able 
to  have  more  glorious  and  surprising  revelations  of  the  Deity 
than  were  enjoyed  under  the  previous  dispensation.  Isaiah 
and  Daniel,  Abraham  and  Ezekid,  envied  us,  and  longed  to  be 
in  our  place ',  and  we  greatly  dishonor  the  Spirit,  if  we  sup- 
pose that  in  this  dispensation  there  is  no  provision  made  for 
the  occasional  glorious  manifestation  of  God  unto  the  soul  of 
the  believer.  AYe  are  saved  by  hope,  and  our  greatest  bless- 
edness is  of  course  in  the  future ;  but  the  best  preparation  for 
this  is  in  the  recognition  of  the  sublime  privileges  now  bestowed. 
Let  it  not  be  thought  that  we  honor  Christ  more  by  overlook- 
ing our  present  opportunities  of  knowing  his  glory,  and  wait- 
ing for  his  appearing  in  the  clouds  of  heaven.  If  we  truly 
love  his  appearing,  we  will  seek  now  to  sound  the  utmost 
depths  of  the  meaning  of  the  promises  contained  in  the  four- 
teenth chapter  of  the  Gospel  by  John. 


July  3. — "He  will  be  our  guide,  even  uuto  deatli." — Psalm  xlviii.  14. 

The  guide  of  whom  ?  Of  those  who  feel  that  this  world  is 
a  labyrinth,  and  that  the  secret  of  its  mazes  is  known  only  to 
God, — that  it  is  the  camp  of  an  enemy ;  and  that  unless  the 
cloud  of  the  presence  of  God  encompass  us  about,  we  have  no 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  227 

security,  not  for  a  moment, — tliat  it  is  a  field  thoroughly  un- 
dermined and  honey-combed,  with  subterranean  trains  of  gun- 
powder in  every  direction,  exploding  every  minute ;  and  that 
unless  He  lead  us,  we  perish.  What  is  the  proof  of  this  ? 
Is  not  this  language  mere  rhapsody  ?  "  It  certainly  is,"  say 
men  in  general ;  "  the  world  we  live  in,  is  on  the  whole  a  safe 
and  comfortable  world ;  peace  and  safety  wait  upon  our  paths." 
Not  so,  we  reply ;  we  have  the  best  warrant  for  our  language. 
The  number  of  the  dead  and  dying  testifies  to  the  danger. 
You  spread  your  table  on  the  green  sward ;  you  bring  forth 
generous  wines;  you  sit  down  with  your  companions,  and  pass 
the  hour  in  great  conviviality ;  the  birds  sing  pleasantly  in  the 
neighboring  grove ;  the  face  of  nature  seems  gladsome  enough. 
Nevertheless,  the  field  where  you  are  sitting,  is  the  field  of  the 
dead  and  dying.  Are  there  many  that  be  saved  ?  Not  hith- 
erto. The  multitude  still  go  in  at  the  broad  gate,  and  hasten 
to  destruction ;  the  few  go  in  at  the  straight  gate,  and  obtain 
life.  The  things  that  seem  to  you  to  smile  so  friendlily  upon 
you  are  the  mortal  enemies  of  men;  the  splendid  halls  to 
which  you  hasten  have  vaults  beneath  them,  and  in  these 
vaults  myriads  of  lost  souls  wait  in  anguish  the  day  of  Judg- 
ment. Man  is  so  mortal,  that  almost  anything  is  deadly  to 
him.  "Were  you  in  a  battle  where  nine  men  out  of  every  ten 
sent  against  the  enemy  were  swept  rapidly  away,  you  would 
not  say,  "  Peace  and  safety." 

He  is  the  guide  of  those  who  feel  their  need  of  an  all-wise, 
all-powerful,  all-condescending  guide,  and  who  are  willing  to 
yield  their  own  preferences  to  his,  their  own  ideas  to  his,  in 
traveling  over  the  glaciers  of  life.  This  word  is  a  lamp  to 
their  feet,  a  light  unto  their  path.  He  will  hold  their  hand 
till  they  reach  the  gate  of  death ;  and  passing  through  it,  they 
will  see  that  it  is  the  gate  of  paradise.  Death  confesses  itself 
vanquished,  when  it  sees  them  walking  on  the  battlements 
clothed  in  white. 


228  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

July  4. — ''  Many  sorrows  shall  be  to  the  wicked;  but  he  that  trusteth 
in  the  Lord,  mercy  shall  compass  him  about." — Psalm  xxxii.  10. 

These  parallelisms  of  Scripture  seem  sometimes  very  rude. 
This  one,  for  instance,  teaches  us  that  the  wicked  are  they  whe 
trust  not  in  the  Lord.  Men  know  not  what  to  make  of  this 
definition.  As  for  the  wicked,  they  say,  we  know  well  who 
they  are ;  these  men  that  are  brought  up  at  the  sessions  of  the 
Civil  Courts,  and  tried  for  felonies,  murders,  misdemeanors; 
and  besides  these,  certain  other  persons  who  have  given  us  an- 
noyance without  rendering  themselves  amenable  to  the  law. 
Men  that  beat  slaves  to  death,  women  that  destroy  their  in- 
fants, children  that  expose  their  parents  to  the  waves  or  to 
wild  animals, — these,  too,  are  wicked. 

But  do  you  trust  in  God  ?  have  you  made  the  everlasting 
Grod  your  refuge  ?  do  you  walk  by  faith  ?  do  you  condemn 
yourself  and  recognize  Christ  as  the  source  of  all  your  good- 
ness, wisdom,  strength  ?  If  not,  then  you  need  not  go  out  of 
yourself  to  find  the  wicked.  "  Thou  art  the  man;"  the  very 
man  the  Bible  talks  so  much  about,  as  needing  to  be  born 
again,  being  under  condemnation,  a  child  of  wrath,  led  captive 
by  the  god  of  this  world.  How  deplorable  is  it  that  in  reading 
the  descriptions  of  the  wicked  in  the  Bible,  you  should  always 
be  thinking  of  another,  rather  than  of  yourself.  For  what  we 
are  now  pressing  upon  you,  though  it  may  seem  rude,  yet  has 
in  it  a  well-head  of  exquisite  consolation.  For  observe,  it  is  a 
very  simple  matter  to  pass  out  of  the  ranks  of  the  wicked,  to 
escape  their  many  sorrows,  and  to  find  yourself  compassed 
about  by  mercy,  as  by  a  legion  of  angels.  You  have  only  to 
trust  in  the  Lord ;  to  discover  yourself  ruined,  and  hasten  to  a 
throne  of  grace ;  to  let  faith  rule  in  your  heart ;  to  receive  and 
be  governed  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  best  of  men  that  ever 
lived,  were  once  wicked  like  yourself,  and  only  by  faith  in 
God's  goodness,  through  Christ,  were  they  made  to  differ. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  229 

July  5. — "  The  Lord  is  nigh  unto  them  that  are  of  a  broken  heart,  and 
saveth  such  as  be  of  a  contrite  spirit." — Psalm  xxxiv.  18. 

Here  again,  tlie  parallelism  tells  us  something.  He  is  nigh 
to  save.  Jlis  presence  is  salvation.  Their  misery  is  not 
nearer  to  them  than  their  deliverer.  To  their  broken  heart, 
the  whole  universe  seems  broken ;  to  their  desolate  spirit,  all 
creation  seems  desolate.  Crushed  beneath  a  sense  of  unwor- 
thiness,  forlornness,  helplessness,  they  dare  not  lift  up  their 
eyes  to  heaven,  and  they  know  that  it  is  useless  to  lift  them  to 
anything  less  than  heaven.  Irremediable  sorrow  seems  their 
portion.  But  the  Lord  hasteneth  to  the  place  where  they  sit 
solitary.  He  does  not  announce  his  coming  by  angelic  pre- 
cursors ;  he  does  not  descend  on  a  bright  cloud ;  no  visible 
glory,  no  audible  sound  attests  his  presence.  But  the  eye  of 
the  broken-hearted  sinner  falls  upon  the  eighteenth  verse  of 
the  thirty-fourth  Psalm,  and  beholds  there  the  intimation  of 
God's  presence.  The  earthquake  of  the  heart  has  opened  a 
way  for  faith ;  and  faith  has  opened  a  way  for  God.  Formerly 
this  word  would  have  seemed  like  an  engaging  falsehood,  a  po- 
etical fiction ;  nothing  less  than  a  hand  of  flame  tracing  the 
announcement  in  letters  of  fire  upon  the  wall  would  have  in- 
duced the  recognition  of  such  a  truth.  But  faith  lets  God  be 
true ;  and  places  him  also  among  those  whose  words  are  to  be 
believed.  And  if  the  Lord  is  nigh,  then  is  all  good  nigh. 
When  the  Lord  was  with  the  first  disciples,  lacked  they  any- 
thing ?  All  our  lost  treasures  are  found  again  in  him.  All 
our  bankrupt  powers  are  found  perfected  in  him.  In  his  pre- 
sence is  fulness  of  joy. 


July  6 — "Is  any  among  you  afflicted?     Let  him  pray." — James  v.  13. 

This  word  that  we  now  encounter  is  moving  with  haste  and 
earnestness  among  the  haunts  of  men.  Up  one  street,  down 
another,  knocking  at  this  door  and  at  that,  stopping  to  address 


20 


230  DAILY    MEDITATIOXS. 

here  a  company  of  noble  personages,  there  a  gathering  of  the 
poor  and  mean,  it  wends  its  way  with  something  angelic  in  its 
mien,  on  very  much  the  same  mission  that  engaged  the 
thoughts  and  energies  of  our  Lord  when  on  the  ear^h. 

"  Is  any  among  you  afflicted  ?"  It  speaks  in  a  kindly  ac- 
cent, knowing  that  many  of  these  afflicted  ones  are  unwilling 
to  disclose  their  inward  grief.  It  speaks  with  earnestness,  as 
though  it  were  conscious  of  possessing  some  medicament  for 
the  woes  of  mankind.  It  does  not  merely  say,  "  Art  thou  af- 
flicted ?  But  are  there  afflicted  ones  among  you  ?  Do  you 
know  of  any  in  the  circle  of  your  friends  V 

"  I  know  of  some,"  will  be  the  jaatural  response.  "  I  have 
been  myself  afflicted,  and  shall  probably  be  so  again.  Some 
of  my  friends  are  even  now  afflicted,  and  most  welcome  would 
my  visit  be  to  them,  if  I  could  banish  their  affliction.  But 
how  may  this  be  ?" 

Go  and  tell  them  to  pray. 

"  But  all  men  pray.'^ 

On  the  contrary,  scarce  any  pray.  And  here  is  the  evil, 
that  almost  all  suppose  they  know  what  prayer  is.  As  Naa- 
man  heard  the  command  to  wash  in  the  Jordan,  so  they  hear 
the  direction  to  pray.  They  are  perfectly  unable  to  under- 
stand how  prayer  should  be  the  means  of  delivering  them  from 
sorrow.  Many  came  in  contact  with  the  garment  of  Jesus  as 
they  crowded  around  him,  without  receiving  any  benefit; 
others,  touching  in  faith,  found  in  a  moment  what  they  had 
sought  for  scores  of  years.  Go  to  your  afflicted  friends  and 
tell  them  to  pray ;  to  pray  in  faith ;  by  the  prayer  of  faith  to 
draw  near  to  God  the  fountain  of  all  good;  in  the  name  of  our 
sympathizing  High-priest ;  and  they  shall  receive  the  Holy 
Ghost,  who  will  disclose  unto  them  the  riches  of  the  grace  of 
God  imbedded  in  the  promises ;  will  convince  them  of  their 
own  unworthiness  and  take  away  pride,  that  inward  cancer, 
that  great  enemy  of  peace ;  will  remind  them  that  whom  God 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  231 

loveth  he  cliasteneth ;  will  make  them  aware  that  they  have 
been  strangely  oblivious  of  an  inheritance  most  magnificent  and 
soul-satisfying,  fading  not  away ;  will  give  them  patience,  sub- 
mission, hope  and  love ;  and  compensate  them  a  hundred-fold 
for  that  o£  which  they  have  been  bereft. 


July  7. — "Many  are  the  afflictions  of  the  righteous;  but  the  Lord  de- 
livereth  him  out  of  them  aU." — Psalm  xxxiv.  19. 

The  Bible  does  not  mock  the  anguish-bitten  soul  by  telling 
it  that  the  Christian  cannot  experience  unhappiness  or  disap- 
pointment; or  by  telling  it  that  it  has  no  business  to  be 
wretched.  The  followers  of  the  righteous  Jesus  are  told  dis- 
tinctly that  there  are  afflictions  for  them ;  and  that  these  af- 
flictions are  many.  So  in  drawing  up  an  inventory  of  what 
belongs  to  them,  they  may  put  down  many  afflictions.  These 
are  a  part  of  their  property. 

We  see  that  it  is  not  a  disreputable  thing  to  suffer.  We 
are  in  good  company. 

The  righteous  man  is  infinitely  more  blessed  in  his  afflictions 
than  the  unrighteous  man  is  in  his  exemption.  The  den  of 
lions  may  be  a  better  place  than  the  royal  couch. 

The  afflictions  of  the  righteous  are  those  that  he  encounters 
in  the  attempt  to  walk  righteously.  Some  come  upon  him 
from  his  unsubmissive  nature  struggling  against  the  new  prin- 
ciple that  seeks  to  control  it.  Many  from  the  wickedness  of 
men,  who  do  their  utmost  that  he  may  not  continue  in  a  path 
that  the}'-  abhor.  Many  from  the  lukewarmness  and  want  of 
sympathy  of  his  brethren.  Some  from  the  suggestions  of  the 
adversary,  seeking  to  undermine  his  faith.  Others  again  from 
the  strange  procedure  of  Grod,  very  different  from  what  he  had 
erringly  anticipated.  He  thought  that  God  w^ould  never  let 
him  be  cast  into  a  pit  or  sold  to  Ishmaelites.  He  thought  that 
God  would  move  with  the  speed  of  lightning  to  his  rescue. 


232  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

He  tliouglit  that  God  would  call  to  him  out  of  the  clouds,  "  I 
have  heard  thy  prayer,"  Some  afflictions  come  upon  him  from 
wounded  affections.  Some  from  the  disappearance  of  loved 
ones.  Happy  for  us  if  we  are  ahle  to  feel  in  all  our  afflictions 
that  they  are  the  afflictions  of  the  righteous.  Not  brought 
upon  us  by  our  own  folly — by  the  neglect  of  divine  guidance — 
by  the  contravention  of  providence. 

All  the  afflictions  of  the  righteous  open  out  into  something 
glorious.  The  prisoner  is  not  merely  delivered,  but  he  finds 
an  angel  waiting  for  him  at  the  door.  And  with  every  deliv- 
erance comes  a  specific  blessing.  One  angel  is  named  faith ; 
another,  love;  another,  joy;  another,  long-suffering ;  another, 
gentleness;  another,  goodness;  another,  meekness;  another, 
temperance ;  another,  peace.  Each  of  these  graces  says,  "  We 
have  come  out  of  great  tribulation.'' 


July  8. — "The  Lord  redeemetli  the  soul  of  his  servants,  and  none  of 
them  that  trust  in  him  shall  be  desolate." — Psalm  xxxiv.  22. 

The  parallelism  shows  us  that  his  servants  are  those  that 
trust  in  him.  How  can  a  man  enter  upon  this  service  without 
trusting  in  him  ?  To  acknowledge  this  master  is  rebellion  to 
the  world.  Thousands  are  ready  to  spring  to  their  arms  when 
they  see  us  put  away  from  our  forehead  and  from  our  hand  the 
sign  of  our  submission  to  the  powers  of  this  world.  A  man 
that  would  serve  God,  has  no  longer  sword  or  spear  to  trust 
in ;  riches  or  luck  or  cunning ;  rank  or  favor ;  the  multitude 
or  the  prince ;  a  fortress  or  a  cavern ;  learning  or  genius  or 
eloquence ;  nothing  in  fact  remains  for  him  to  trust  in  hut 
God.  The  servant  is  not  greater  than  his  master ;  he  partakes 
with  his  master  the  hostility  of  the  world ;  and  he  has  naught 
to  look  to  but  the  promise  of  his  master.  Desolation  seems 
to  stare  him  in  the  face ;  but  he  is  assured  that  none  of  them 
that  trust  in  the  Lord  shall  be  desolate. 


DAILY    MEDITATIOXS.  233 

Desolation  seemed  to  frown  upon  the  Pilgrim  fathers  as  they 
forsook  the  shores  of  the  old  world  and  went  forth  to  a  land 
which  they  knew  to  be  not  at  all  flowing  with  milk  and  honey, 
rather  indeed  inhospitable,  bleak  and  savage.  Innumerable 
dangers  beset  those  infant  colonies ;  but  they  found  the  grace 
of  the  Lord  corresponding  with  the  word  of  the  Lord,  In- 
stead of  being  outlaws  they  became  lawgivers;  instead  of 
being  vilified  as  opposers  of  the  faith,  they  became  celebrated 
as  expounders  of  the  faith ;  and  the  howling  wilderness  be- 
came as  the  garden  of  the  Lord  around  them. 

But  sometimes  the  most  bitter  experience  of  desolation  is 
in  the  crowded  walks  of  men ;  sometimes  in  the  bosom  of  a 
large  family.  Nothing  is  more  desolating  than  to  be  closely 
surrounded  on  every  side  by  those  who  are  called  friends,  kins- 
folk, but  who  have  no  manner  of  sympathy  with  the  ruling 
sentiment  of  our  heart.  Often  has  one  so  situated  longed  for 
the  most  lonely  spot,  and  deeply  felt  that  the  solitary  place 
would  be  glad,  beautiful,  heavenlike,  in  comparison  with  his 
situation.  But  often  again  has  such  a  soul  turned  to  God  and 
found  it  possible  to  obtain  a  triumph  over  its  desolation.  The 
life  of  God  perfected  in  that  soul,  has  sent  forth  streams  into 
the  uncongenial  elements  around,  and  so  vindicated  itself  by 
celestial  love  and  patience  that  they  too  have  been  led  to  drink 
and  live.  How  blessed  a  thing  was  it  that  that  soul  could  not 
escape  in  the  day  of  its  weariness. 

But  those  that  do  not  trust  in  him  shall  be  desolate.  Per- 
haps they  came  to  the  borders  of  Canaan,  and  it  seemed  to 
them  an  uninviting  land ;  a  sad  and  solitary  existence  seemed 
to  expand  before  them;  they  hesitated  for  awhile;  then  the 
persuasions  of  their  worldly  friends  prevailed;  they  went  back 
to  the  multitude.  But  will  the  multitude  keep  them  from  de- 
solation ?  Alas  !  can  anything  be  more  desolate  than  the  soul 
that  is  without  God. 

An  hour  is  coming  when  men,  as  they  have  preferred  to  be 
21)  " 


234  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

without  God,  so  they  shall  be  driven  with  everlasting  destruc- 
tion from  the  glory  of  his  presence ;  thenceforth  will  everlast- 
ing and  universal  desolation  encompass  them  about,  such  as 
eye  hath  not  seen  nor  heart  conceived. 


July  9. — "  God  is  faithful,  by  whom  we  were  called  unto  the  fellowship 
of  his  Son  Jesns  Christ  our  Lord." — 1  Corinthians  i.  9. 

Called  unto  the  fellowship  of  Christ,  seems  to  mean,  called 
unto  a  community  of  interest  and  of  destiny  with  Christ.  One 
Spirit  is  to  be  common  to  the  believer  and  Christ ;  to  each 
there  is  one  life  of  humiliation,  one  eternity  of  glory ;  to  each 
the  hatred  of  the  world.  Christ's  peace  and  joy  are  the  believ- 
er's ;  the  same  love  of  the  Father  is  given  to  each ;  there  is  to 
each  a  resurrection  and  ascension.  But  he  that  is  called  to  a 
part  is  called  to  the  whole.  If  we  suffer  with  him,  we  shall 
reign  with  him ;  not  otherwise.  He  is  indeed  the  Captain  of 
our  salvation ;  and  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin 
of  the  world.  Though  crucified  with  him,  yet  there  were 
sacrificial  sorrows  of  his  which  we  know  not. 

Of  course  it  will  be  thought  a  sublime  thing  in  the  last  day, 
to  sit  down  with  Jesus  on  his  throne,  and  participate  a  glory 
that  shall  light  up  the  universe.  But  only  he  shall  sit  there 
who  is  now  cordially  associated  with  Christ  in  the  midst  of  a 
gainsaying  and  perverse  generation.  The  marvel  is  that,  with 
the  certainty  of  such  an  exalted  destiny  in  reserve,  there  should 
be  so  little  readiness  to  pursue  the  path  that  leads  to  it.  Is  it 
thought  that  God  is  not  faithful,  and  that  after  enduring  count- 
less humiliations  for  the  name  of  Christ,  the  reward  will  be 
withheld  ?  But  God  is  not  only  faithful,  he  is  faithfulness  it- 
self; he  must  cease  to  be  himself  before  he  can  be  unfaithful. 
Faithfulness  in  God  is  simply  acting  in  accordance  with  his 
own  character,  simply  having  his  own  way.  In  order  to  induce 
a  man  to  be  faithful,  we  labor  to  make  him  go  out  of  himself, 


DAILY    MEDITATIOXS.  235 

— control  his  own  inclinations  and  tendencies ;  it  is  almost  like 
asking  a  barque  driven  with  the  wind  and  tossed,  to  remain 
motionless  on  the  bosom  of  the  agitated  waters.  But  God  is  a 
rock ;  and  a  strange  spectacle  it  would  indeed  be,  if  he  should 
vacillate  and  be  thrown  from  his  native  steadfastness.  He 
knew  our  nature  perfectly  before  he  took  that  nature  in  hand 
to  redeem  it.  He  cannot  be  taken  by  surprise  at  any  develop- 
ments in  us.  It  was  not  because  he  believed  us  somewhat  cor- 
rupt, that  he  undertook  our  redemption ;  he  knew  us  to  be 
what  we  are  only  gradually  discovering  ourselves  to  be,  utterly 
corrupt.  Heaven  and  earth  then  may  pass  away,  but  He  will 
remain  fliithful  to  his  own  declared  purpose,  and  present  us  to 
the  scrutiny  of  the  universe,  holy,  unblemished,  unblameable. 


July  10. — They  shall  be  abundantly  satisfied  "with  the  fatness  of  thy 
house,  and  thou  shalt  make  them  drink  of  thy  pleasures." — Psalm  xxxvi.  8. 

The  blessedness  of  God  will  be  the  blessedness  of  his  people. 
Their  purity  shall  be  without  stain,  their  love  without  limit; 
wherefore  their  happiness  shall  know  no  bound.  Their  charac- 
ter will  correspond  to  the  character  of  God ;  wherefore  their 
felicity  will  be  the  same  as  his.  Men,  as  they  are  generally, 
could  find  no  satisfaction  in  God's  house,  in  the  place  where 
his  glory  has  its  highest  revelation ;  nor  is  there  anything  at- 
tractive to  them  in  the  river  of  his  pleasures.  Satan  has  so 
vitiated  their  palate  with  the  caustic  of  sin,  that  they  have  no 
faculty  of  appreciating  the  banquet  that  is  spread  in  heaven. 
Even  the  Israelites  preferred  the  leeks  and  onions  of  Egypt  to 
the  manna  from  heaven. 

Happy  are  they  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness. 
Give  them  the  most  excj[uisite  viands  that  man  can  prepare,  • 
and  their  tears  will  fall  as  they  eat;  they  long  to  arise  and  hie 
them  to  some  humble  chamber  where  believers  bow  the  knee 
before  their  heavenly  Father  and  ask  for  his  reviving  grace. 


236  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

* 

They  have  tasted  of  a  particular  food,  and  their  whole  nature 
has  been  brought  under  the  enchantment  of  it ;  they  disdain 
all  that  they  formerly  thought  excellent ;  and  never  can  they 
be  satisfied  till  that  heaven-born  apj^etite  brings  them  to  the 
mansion  of  their  Father,  and  to  that  garden  where  the  saints 
walk  in  light  and  drink  of  the  river  of  the  pleasures  of  Grod. 

The  river  of  thy  pleasures.  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son  in 
whom  I  am  well  pleased."  Thus  saith  the  Eternal  Father. 
What  sayest  thou ?  "In  these  things  I  delight,"  saith  the 
Lord;  "in  loving-kindness,  judgment,  and  righteousness." 
What  sayest  thou?  "As  a  bridegroom  rejoiceth  over  the 
bride,  so  shall  thy  God  rejoice  over  thee."  "  The  Lord  taketh 
pleasure  in  them  that  fear  him."  Dost  thou  ?  We  must  be 
drinking  even  now  of  the  river  of  the  pleasures  of  God  ]  then 
have  we  an  assured  hope  that  our  thirst  shall  be  fully  slaked 
in  the  beatific  future. 


July  11. — "With  thee  is  the  fountain  of  life;  in  thy  light  shall  we  see 
light." — Psalm  xxxvi.  9. 

In  a  few  verses  of  this  psalm,  we  have  the  elysium  of  God 
divinely  sketched,  and  how  do  all  the  elysian  scenes  of  poets 
fade  in  comparison  with  it.  There  is  poetry  and  there  is  wis- 
dom in  the  abstinence  that  controls  the  delineation.  They 
that  minutely  depict  the  home  of  the  blessed  and  seek  to  pre- 
sent us  with  a  finished  drawing  of  it,  forget  that  whatever  can 
be  thus  photographed  is  of  necessity  fallen  from  the  region  to 
which  faith,  hope,  and  whatsoever  is  heavenly  in  us,  aspires. 
Give  us  a  minute  description  of  heaven  and  it  is  no  more 
heaven.  For  what  we  need  to  understand  by  heaven  is  a 
.place  or  a  condition  such  as  eye  hath  not  seen,  ear  hath  not 
heard,  heart  not  conceived ;  having  so  little  in  common  with 
earth  that  earthly  language  is  no  medium  for  the  expression 
of  its  marvels ;   and  whose  distinguishing  elements  must  just 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  237 

be  hinted ;  negatiobs  being  more  employed  than  affirmations. 
Oh,  how  much  reason  have  we  to  admire  and  rejoice  in  the  re- 
ticence of  the  sacred  writers,  or  rather  of  the  Spirit  who  dwelt 
in  them ! 

Let  us  not  fail  also  to  admire  the  fact  that  everything  which 
is  uttered  concerning  the  place  of  God's  glory,  has  reference  to 
us.  "We  are  told  of  a  fountain  of  life,  because  we  long  to  be 
fully  possessed  by  the  life  of  heaven,  to  be  emancipated  from 
the  body  of  this  death,  to  drink  our  full  of  the  redemption 
that  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  We  are  told  of  God's  light,  because 
in  that  marvellous  light  we  shall  see  light,  and  never  more  be 
compelled  to  look  on  darkness.  There  is  darkness  within  us ; 
the  light  that  we  have  is  but  light  shining  through  the  jiven 
darkness;  and  there  is  darkness  on  our  path;  and  darkness  in 
the  mind  and  in  the  speech  of  every  man  we  walk  with ;  and 
a  mighty  pall  of  darkness  stretches  over  the  whole  world. 
There  is  darkness  in  the  government  of  every  land  under  the 
sun,  whether  it  be  absolute,  constitutional,  or  republican ;  dark- 
ness in  all  literature;  darkness  in  the  daily  press;  darkness  in 
all  codes;  darkness  in  the  ministry.  Almost  everywhere,  utter 
darkness ;  in  the  Church,  mingled  darkness  and  light,  and  the 
promise  of  unmixt  light.  We  now  believe  in  God's  light; 
soon  we  shall  see  it. 


July  12. — "  He  died  for  all,  that  they  who  live  should  not  henceforth 
live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  him  who  died  for  them  and  rose  again." — 
2  Corinthians  v.  15. 

He  died  -for  cdl;  a  glorious  truth  repeated  in  eveiy  variety 
of  language,  and  oftentimes  with  the  utmost  explicitness  that 
language  can  admit  of.  By  virtue  of  this  unlimited  atone- 
ment, salvation  may  be  offered  to  all,  the  gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture, the  water  of  life  to  whomsoever  will ;  by  virtue  of  this, 
men  that  believe  not  are  condemned  because  they  have  not  be- 
lieved on  the  Son  of  God,  and  men  are  convinced  of  sin  be- 


238  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

cause  of  unbelief.  It  is  tliis  that  gives  its  pathos  to  the  lan- 
guage of  Christ.  "  How  often  would  I  have  gathered  thee, 
and  thou  wouldest  not.  I  would,  thou  wouldest  not.  Ye  will 
not  come  unto  me  that  ye  may  have  life."  And  to  the  lan- 
guage of  Paul :  "  Seeing  that  ye  put  away  from  yourselves 
everlasting  life."  And  to  the  language  of  wisdom  :  "  Because 
I  have  called  and  ye  refused,  therefore  ye  shall  call  and  I  will 
not  answer." 

But  though  there  be  an  unlimited  atonement  there  is  a  lim- 
ited redemption.  He  died  for  all,  and  the  result  is  not,  that 
all  live ;  he  died  for  all  that  tliey  icho  live  should  not  live  unto 
themselves.  He  died  for  all  in  the  sense  that  all  may  live  if 
they  will ;  he  died  for  the  elect  in  the  sense  that  they  will 
actually  will  to  live.  Life  is  offered  to  all ;  but  all  are  not 
allowed  to  reject  it 

And  this  is  the  life  that  they  obtain,  namely  a  willingness 
to  live  unto  Christ ;  a  purpose  and  a  power  to  live  according 
to  the  mind  of  Christ.  There  is  nothing  that  seems  so  much 
like  death  to  men  as  the  subjugation  of  their  own  will  to  the 
will  of  another.  They  know  not  that  their  own  will  is  their 
greatest  enemy  •  enthroned  within  them  for  their  present  misery 
and  future  destruction.  The  believer's  happiness  it  is  to  dis- 
cover that  the  will  of  Christ  indicates  the  only  path  in  which 
he  will  find  peace,  purity,  genuine  liberty,  dignity,  immortality, 
felicity. 


July  13. — ''  If  we  suffer,  we  shall  also  reign  with  him." — 2  Timothy  ii.  12. 

When  he  was  on  the  earth,  leading  a  life  of  sorrows  and 
perfecting  his  acquaintance  with  grief,  no  man  appeared  to 
covet  the  privilege  of  suffering  with  him.  John  and  James, 
indeed,  before  they  had  obtained  a  glimpse  of  the  cross,  were 
bold  to  say,  "  We  are  able  to  drink  of  thy  cup,  and  to  be  bap- 
tized with  thy  baptism."     Thomas  also  said,  "  Let  us  also  go 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  239 

that  we  may  die  with  him.'^  Peter  said,  "  I  will  lay  down  my 
life  for  thy  sake."  So  likewise  said  they  all.  Yet  when  the 
hour  of  his  enemies  came,  and  the  power  of  darkness,  he  was 
left  to  tread  the  wine-press  alone.  His  disciples  forsook  him ; 
or  if  they  ventured  to  approach  the  place  where  he  was  a 
prisoner,  it  was  only  to  increase  his  suffering  by  the  exhibition 
of  their  unbelief  and  pusillanimity. 

Imagine  yourself  there.  You  are  in  the  secret.  You  know 
that  this  is  indeed  the  very  king  of  the  Jews,  though  they 
mock  him  with  a  crown  of  thorns  and  with  some  faded  and 
tattered  robe  of  state.  You  know  that  legions  of  angels  are 
waiting  to  receive  his  commands ;  though  these  servants  of 
servants  smite  him  and  revile  him.  You  know  that  there  is 
buried  within  that  suffering  body,  glory  sufficient  to  bathe  all 
the  mountains  of  the  earth  in  radiance,  and  suffuse  the  heavens 
with  splendor  in  the  absence  of  the  sun ;  you  know  that  there 
is  a  joy  set  before  him  unspeakable,  inconceivable,  and  that  it 
will  be  the  sublimest  of  destinies  to  participate  in  that  joy. 
Well,  what  is  the  course  you  adopt  ?  It  seems  to  you — does 
it  not  ? — that  you  must  hasten  to  his  side ;  nay,  cast  yourself 
at  his  feet,  and  solicit  the  honor  of  suffering  with  him ;  con- 
fessing withal  that,  if  you  had  the  goodness  of  an  archangel, 
you  would  still  be  most  unworthy  of  such  a  privilege.  Christ 
is  not  willing  that  you  should  be  debarred  this  privilege. 
He  did  not  take  his  cross  away  to  heaven  with  him.  Ages 
have  not  extinguished  the  opposition  of  the  world  to  him. 
Are  you  sure  that  you  are  really  willing  to  perceive,  to  enter, 
and  to  pursue  the  via  dolorosa  ?  There  does  indeed  seem 
something  most  base  in  the  refusal  to  join  this  king  of  glory 
in  the  hour  of  his  humiliation ;  but  is  it  very  certain  that  you 
are  not  this  very  day  demonstrating  your  spiritual  affinity  to 
those  who  cried  out,  "  Not  this  man,  but  Barabbas  ?V  Have 
you  not  turned  aside  from  many  a  path,  chiefly  because  you 
caught  a  glimpse  of  something  like  calamity,  and  concluded 


240  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

that  duty  did  not  call  you  to  enter  it  ?  Does  not  the  antici- 
pated elements  of  loss,  shame,  or  danger,  assist  you  much  too 
readily  in  reaching  your  conclusions  as  to  what  is  duty  ? 

Formerly,  in  the  days  of  the  Church's  simplicity,  Christians 
ascertained  their  path  by  the  plain  sense  of  Scripture.  But 
now  the  Church  has  become  exceedingly  wise  and  prudent, 
and  discovers  that  the  old  paths  are  many  of  them  quite  un- 
necessary. One  is  ashamed  to  differ  from  so  many  wise  and 
good  men.  And  it  is  certainly  a  very  foolish  thing  to  run 
after  suffering.  Yet  is  it  a  far  more  foolish  thing  to  disregard 
the  monitions  of  the  Spirit.  It  is  the  acme  of  folly  to  do 
anything  that  may  jeopard  our  hope  of  reigning  with  Christ, 
in  the  day  that  the  kings  of  the  earth  shall  be  crouching  in 
dens  and  caves. 


July  14. — "If  we  believe  not,  yet  he  abideth  faithful j  he  cannot  deny 
himself."— 2  Timothy  ii.  13. 

He  will  not  modify  his  purposes  to  suit  our  unbelief  What 
madness  to  suppose  that  he  will  imitate  us ;  and  seeing  that 
we  make  light  of  his  faithfulness,  make  light  of  it  himself. 
Let  Grod  be  true,  though  every  man  a  liar.  Grod  once  declared 
his  purpose  of  bringing  a  deluge  upon  the  earth.  Men  would 
not  believe  the  terrific  word.  The  whole  human  race  combined 
to  rear  up  a  wall  of  unbelief  under  the  protection  of  which 
they  thought  themselves  safe.  On  the  one  hand  were  all  man- 
kind with  their  "  no  f  on  the  other,  God  with  his  "  yes." 
Unbelievers  thought  themselves  safe  in  their  vast  numbers  and 
perfect  concord  \  but  the  word  of  God  must  be  fulfilled  whether 
a  single  individual  be  the  opposer,  or  a  whole  world. 

The  thought  of  the  immense  numbers  that  are  without 
Christ  in  the  world,  leads  many  to  conclude  that  God  will  mo- 
dify his  declared  purpose.  Where  there  are  so  many  to  be 
punished,  it  is  unlikely  that  the  penalty  will  be  inflicted.     Ac- 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  241 

cording  to  tliis  reasoning,  man  has  saved  himself  by  getting 
the  whole  human  family  to  persevere  in  rebellion.  God  de- 
lighteth  in  mercy;  but  he  cannot  cease  to  be  a  just  and  faith- 
ful Grod.  It  is  altogether  too  much  to  expect  that  he  will 
follow  the  example  of  man,  and  give  up  the  attributes  of  faith- 
fulness, truthfulness,  and  holiness,  after  man  has  denied  them 
to  him.  The  question  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  has 
been,  shall  man  accommodate  himself  to  God,  or  shall  God 
accommodate  himself  to  man  ?  The  Bible  says,  "  He  that  be- 
lieveth  not  is  condemned ;  there  is  no  saving  name  but  that  of 
Christ  3  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  him :"  and 
it  is  not  denied  that  the  Bible  says  these  things.  But,  it  is 
said,  God  must  accommodate  himself  to  the  stubbornness  of 
man.  Vain  hope.  He  abideth  faithful,  though  not  a  believer 
were  found  in  the  earth. 

Dost  thou,  0  Christian,  render  due  honor  to  the  inviolable 
faithfulness  of  God  ?  I  fear  lest  occasionally  thou  incline  to 
some  forbidden  path,  hoping  that  God  will  not  visit  you  with 
the  rod.  How  unkind  in  you  to  set  up  God's  love  to  yon 
against  his  love  to  his  word !  Would  you  actually  introduce 
division  and  conflict  among  the  very  perfections  of  God? 
Christ  has  never  promised  that  he  will  become  a  sinner  to 
gratif}'"  you.  He  will  remain  faithful ;  truth  driven  from  every 
threshold  of  man,  finds  an  everlasting  asylum  with  him. 

Happy  are  they  who  have  on  their  side  the  adamantine 
faithfulness  of  Christ,  and  build  upon  it  all  their  hopes  of 
happiness. 

July  15. — "  The  foundation  of  God  standeth  sure,  having  this  seal,  The 
Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  his." — 2  Timothy  ii.  19. 

This  is  said  with  reference  to  some  that  appear  unto  men 
to  be  the  children  of  God,  and  afterwards  fall  away.  Chris- 
tians have  no  promise  that  they  shall  be  kept  from  misconcep- 
tions on  this  point ;  and  they  are  sometimes  greatly  shocked 

21 


242  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

to  find  the  court  of  Grod's  house  strewn  with  columns.  God  is 
the  architect  of  his  temple,  and  is  cognizant  of  his  own  plan  j 
he  allows  stones  and  pillars  to  be  placed  in  the  edifice  which 
he  knows  do  not  permanently  belong  to  it;  but  for  the 
places  they  temporarily  occupy  there  are  other  materials 
known  to  him ;  and  no  chasms,  no  imlovely  vacancies  shall 
after  all  appear.  Let  this  console  us.  The  Lord  knoweth 
them  that  are  his.  These  pseudo-Christians  that  figure  for  a 
while  upon  the  platform,  and  then  pass  away  in  the  whirlwind 
of  sin,  amid  the  triumphs  of  a  scoffing  world,  were  never 
known  to  him  for  anything  but  what  they  really  were. 

The  foundation  laid  by  the  Lord  standeth  sure,  and  amid 
the  shock  of  ages  remains  the  same.  The  prophets  and  the 
apostles  are  this  foundation,  the  chief  corner-stone  being  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In  other  words,  the  Bible  exhibits  the  re- 
ligion that  God  requires  of  man.  Every  generation  is  made 
to  look  upon  this  foundation,  and  is  invited  to  build  upon  it. 
It  builds  and  builds ;  but  its  work  is  perhaps  not  accordant 
with  the  foundation  laid ;  and  God  quietly  removes  the  super- 
structure, and  summons  the  next  generation.  It  builds  and 
builds;  and  its  work,  too,  is  swept  away.  Finally  we  are 
reached.  We^  behold  the  foundation,  and  we  apply  ourselves 
to  the  work  of  completing  the  house  of  God.  Will  God  be 
pleased  with  our  performance  ?  Only  if  we  adopt  the  apostolic 
standard,  and  banish  the  futile  thought  of  improving  on  the 
plans  of  God. 

July  16. — "He  is  able  also  to  save  them  to  the  uttermost  that  come 
unto  God  by  him." — Hebrews  vii.  25. 

The  reason  is  assigned  and  it  is  unanswerable  : — "  He  ever 
liveth  to  make  intercession  for  them."  He  lives  forever, 
clothed  with  all  the  power  derived  from  his  propitiatory  death, 
and  animated  by  the  same  heart  of  love  that  led  him  to  die ; 
he  lives  in  the  very  place  where  we  most  need  him;  he  is 


DAILY    MEDITATIOXS.  243 

there  perpetually  in  our  "behalf.  He  was  not  more  truly  on 
the  earth  for  us  than  he  is  in  heaven  for  us,  and  we  may  con- 
fidently expect  to  be  saved  unto  the  uttermost. 
•  Once  we  had  no  access  to  God.  There  were  no  invitations 
for  us,  no  promises.  He  saved  us  from  that  fearful  condition. 
He  has  endowed  us  with  liberty  to  draw  nigh  to  God.  He  has 
given  us  his  Holy  Spirit, — has  shed  abroad  the  love  of  God  in 
our  hearts, — has  changed  our  hearts ;  overcome  our  sins ;  and 
bound  us  to  himself  by  indissoluble  bonds.  But  all  this  is 
scarcely  more  than  a  beginning.  We  have  received  but  an  in- 
stalment. He  is  able  to  do  vastly  more  than  he  has  done.  He 
is  able  to  save  us  from  all  moral  weakness,  so  that  we  may  look 
serenely  and  fearlessly  on  all  temptations,  on  all  dangers  that 
beset  us. 

Is  there  some  infirmity  in  yourself,  some  difficulty  out  of 
yourself,  that  seems  like  a  barrier  in  the  way  of  your  progress  ? 
He  is  able  to  remove  this.  Have  you  been  so  often  overcome 
by  the  adversary,  that  you  are  ready  to  despair  ?  Take  care, 
and  do  not  disparage  the  ability  of  him  that  is  with  you  to 
succor  you.  Does  some  duty  seem  tremendous  and  altogether 
beyond  your  force  ?  He  is  able.  Has  he  done  so  great  things 
for  you  that  you  are  ashamed  to  ask  him  for  more  ?  He  re- 
quires you  to  ask  until  you  be  saved  to  the  uttermost.  Do  you 
shrink  from  death  ?  Shrink  not  from  the  remaining  salvation. 
You  must  be  saved  from  this  present  inglorious  and  inadequate 
life ;  from  a  Church  sadly  imperfect  to  a  Church  clothed  in 
spotless  purity;  from  a  mortal  and  corruptible  existence  to  an 
immortal  incorruptible  one.  You  must  be  brought  to  the  an- 
gels; to  the  seraphim;  to  the  glorified  Son  of  God;  to  the 
throne  where  the  river  of  the  water  of  life  takes  its  rise. 


July  17. — "Be  not  weary  in  well-doing." — 2  Thessalonians  iii.  13. 
This  is  said  to  the  well-doer.     To  one  even  who  is  no  novice 


244  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

in  well-doing ;  but  has  been  some  time  engaged  in  deeds  of  be- 
neficence. You  have  begun  well ;  you  have  gone  on  well ;  but 
persevere.  It  may  be  that  your  kindness  is  not  appreciated ; 
that  your  self-denial  for  the  sake  of  others  is  even  ridiculed ; 
that  your  motives  are  misrepresented;  and  that  the  more  you 
love,  the  less  you  are  loved.  But  your  well-doing  is  not  well- 
doing if  it  be  gone  about  chiefly  for  the  sake  of  man's  appre- 
ciation. He  doeth  well  whose  labors  of  love  are  amply  rewarded 
by  the  smile  of  God.  There  was  a  time  when  you  were  not 
weary  in  seeking  your  own  ease,  pleasure,  or  advantage. 
Should  you  labor  longer  or  more  cheerfully  for  that  solitary 
sinner,  than  for  a  world  of  unhappy  ones  around  you  ? 

Consider  that  Christ  was  not  weary  in  well-doing,  though  his 
love  was  exhibited  under  the  most  adverse  circumstances  im- 
aginable. Perhaps  you  may  find  on  reflection  that  he  has 
been  remarkably  persevering  in  his  efforts  to  do  good  to  you. 
Did  you  ever  go  to  the  door  of  some  poor  miserable  degraded 
being,  and  knock  and  knock;  and  when  driven  from  the  door 
by  a  shower  of  reproaches,  return  at  the  flrst  opportunity  and 
knock  and  knock ;  and  being  again  thrust  back  with  your  un- 
desired  gifts,  still  return  and  endeavor  to  gain  admission  ? 
Hardly.  But  has  there  not  been  some  such  persistency  as  this 
on  the  part  of  Christ,  in  his  efforts  to  recover  you  from  the 
degradation  of  sin  and  the  darkness  of  unbelief?  Grod  makes 
his  sun  to  rise  and  run  his  daily  course  through  the  skies  that 
yon  may  be  lighted  along  the  path  of  duty ;  but  how  often  does 
that  sun  arise  and  pour  his  deluge  of  light  around  you,  with- 
out any  other  thoughts  arising  in  your  own  mind  than  such  as 
relate  to  your  own  pleasure.  The  marvel  is  that  God  should 
not  be  weary  of  doing  good  to  such  a  one.  When  you  are 
ready  to  get  weary  of  your  paltry  beneficences,  think  that  jom 
are  suggesting  to  God  that  it  is  not  worth  while  to  continue 
blessing  the  race  to  which  you  belong. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  245 

July  18. — "If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself  and 
take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me." — Matthew  xvi.  24. 

One  of  the  greatest  triumplis  ever  obtained  by  Satan,  was 
•when  he  induced  men,  from  motives  utterly  unscriptural,  and 
in  connection  with  a  system  not  Christian,  to  institute  reKgious 
orders  consecrated  to  poverty  and  external  humiliation.  In 
recoiling  from  this  error,  Protestantism  has,  it  is  to  be  feared, 
recoiled  from  the  truth  of  which  it  is  a  perversion.  The  doc- 
trine illustrating  the  spirituality  of  Christianity,  voluntary 
sacrifice  of  position,  wealth  or  ease,  in  order  that  the  sincerity 
and  faith  and  contentedness  and  hope  and  love  of  the  Chris- 
tian may  be  appropriately  exhibited,  this  doctrine,  though  it 
may  claim  as  large  and  broad  a  foundation  for  itself  in  the 
word  of  Christ  as  any  other  one  doctrine,  is  now  treated  as  a 
foolish  fantasy,  if  not  indeed  as  a  heresy ;  and  he  that  main- 
tains it  and  practises  it  must  exhibit  a  good  deal  of  wisdom  in 
other  matters  in  order  to  be  tolerated.  There  is  no  more  sa- 
cred obligation  resting  upon  Christians,  under  the  sun,  than 
the  obligation  to  show  forth  the  divine  origin  of  Christianity 
by  the  exhibition,  in  their  lives,  of  those  evidences  that  are 
most  calculated  to  affect  mankind  generally.  G-od  loves  his 
people  •,  he  is  no  enemy  to  their  comfort  here ;  but  he  loves 
his  truth  and  the  removal  of  stumbling-blocks  from  the  paths 
that  tend  to  Christ ;  nor  is  it  from  harshness  or  indifference 
that  he  says  to  any,  "  Sell  all  that  thou  hast,  and  give  to  the 
poor,  and  follow  me ;"  for  he  well  knoweth  that  he  has  power 
to-  bestow — with  poverty  and  inferiority  of  position — -peace, 
and  gladness  such  as  riches  can  never  impart.  "  But,"  you 
say,  "  what  can  a  solitary  individual  do  ?  If  he  resolve  to  do 
just  what  his  Lord  says,  his  course  will  be  at  once  eccentric 
and  unprofitable.  The  example  of  one  man  is  nothing."  But 
the  question  already  considered  recurs  :  Do  the  words  of  Christ 
accommodate  themselves  to  the  unbelief  of  the  Church ;  and 
21  * 


246  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

are  all  his  requirements  relaxed  because  Christians  universally 
shut  their  eyes  to  them  ? 


July  19. — "Fear  not,  little  flock;  for  it  is  your  Father's  good  pleasure 
to  give  you  the  kingdom." — Luko  xii.  32. 

In  these  words  we  read  the  future  destinies  of  the  world. 
When  an  Alexander  arises  and  hurries  through  the  world, 
snatching  crowns  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left,  and  threat- 
ening to  take  unto  himself  all  sublunary  power,  the  people  of 
Grod  are  told  to  fear  not;  the  kingdom  is  for  them,  not  him. 
So  too  when  a  Julius  Caesar  grasps  at  the  sceptre  of  universal 
dominion.  And  when  a  Napoleon  appears  on  the  scene,  they 
calmly  wait  to  see  him  and  his  kingdom  vanish.  For  they 
have  looked  with  Daniel  on  the  image  that  expressed  before- 
hand the  vicissitudes  of  the  world  from  the  Babylonian  do- 
minion down  to  the  time  when  dominion  is  given  unto  the  Son 
of  man,  and  by  him  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the 
Most  High.  The  meek  shall  inherit  the  earth.  Not  only  is 
there  for  them  an  inheritance  reserved  in  heaven ;  but  thrones 
shall  come  down  from  heaven  and  be  set  upon  the  earth ;  and 
they  shall  sit  thereon.     "  For  we  shall  reign  on  the  earth." 

But  who  are  these  unmanifested  kings  and  priests  ?  They 
are  now  a  little  company  of  sheep ;  a  little  flock ;  mutely  sub- 
missive when  led  to  the  slaughter;  willing  to  be  inglorious, 
poor,  weak,  despised,  rejected;  fitting  themselves  to  be  all  that 
is  great  and  excellent  and  powerful,  by  their  willingness  to  be 
nothing. 

July  20. — "  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life." — John 
iii.  36. 

And  he  only;  for  "he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall 
not  see  life ;  but  the  wrath  of  Grod  abideth  on  him."  Several 
important  matters  loom  upon  us  in  this  little  statement.     One 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  247 

of  the  most  unintelligible  things,  to  the  world,  is  the  declara- 
tion so  constantly  made  in  the  Scriptures,  that  man  is  without 
life.  At  the  very  beginning  of  human  history,  Satan  intro- 
duced, as  a  substitute  for  Grod's  doctrine  that  man  would  die 
in  the  day  of  his  transgression,  his  own  opposing  doctrine  that 
man  would  not  die.  Adam  believed  Satan  rather  than  God; 
and  it  has  been  the  same  with  Adam's  descendants  until  the 
present  hour.  Men  refuse  to  believe  that  they  are  in  any 
proper  sense  dead ;  that  they  need  the  breath  of  life  to  be 
breathed  into  their  soul.  And  refusing  to  believe  this,  they 
give  no  heed  to  the  offer  of  life  made  to  them  in  the  Grospel. 
"  In  the  day  thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die."  "  He 
that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life — hath  passed 
from  death  unto  life.''  Not  knowing  themselves  dead  through 
transgression,  they  fail  to  live  through  faith.  The  death  that 
passed  upon  Adam  was  not  a  visible  death ;  and  the  life  that 
comes  to  the  believer  is  not  a  visible  life ;  but  the  results  of 
both  are  in  due  time  sufficiently  visible. 

You  look  upon  the  believer  and  upon  yourself,  and  you  say, 
WTiat  has  he  that  I  have  not  ?  Wherein  is  he  richer  than  I 
am  ?  I  have  physical  and  mental  powers  equal,  if  not  supe- 
rior, to  his.  Is  he  eloquent?  Not  more  than  I.  Can  he 
reason  ?  Not  better  than  I.  Is  he  well  informed  ?  So  am 
I.  Is  he  respected  ?  I  am  more  so.  Has  he  wealth  ?  I  have 
more.  Is  he  generous  ?  Men  speak  far  more  of  my  gene- 
rosity than  of  his.  Is  he  moral  ?  I  claim  to  be  as  much  so. 
He  has  a  hope  of  heaven.     And  have  I  none  ? 

I  will  tell  you  what  he  has  that  you  have  not.  He  has  the 
knowledge  that  sin  is  death.  He  knows  that,  naturally,  he,  in 
common  with  all  mankind,  is  under  condemnation ;  is  without 
the  favor  of  Grod ;  is  exposed  to  eternal  wrath.  While  deeply 
sensible  of  the  great  goodness  of  God  in  bestowing  upon  him 
many  admirable  gifts,  he  knows  that  these  gifts  only  increase 
the  odiousness  of  his  sins.     He  loathes  his  sins ;  his  pride, 


248  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

selfisliness,  irreligion,  insincerity.  He  is  aware  that  no  mere 
efforts  of  his  own,  with  all  the  aid  that  he  can  obtain  from 
man,  are  adequate  to  restore  his  diseased,  his  dead  nature.  It 
is  life  that  he  needs.  And  it  is  blasphemy  to  say  that  any 
finite  power  can  bestow  this.  He  believes  on  the  Son  of  God; 
recognizing  him  to  be  morally  and  in  respect  to  dignity,  the 
express  image  of  the  Father.  He  beholds  G-od  manifest  in 
the  Son ;  and  all  the  acts  and  words  of  Christ  reveal  to  him 
the  character  of  the  omnipresent  God.  He  sees  his  own  sins 
expiated  at  the  cross ;  and  the  broken  body  of  Christ  is  the 
legacy  of  life  to  him.  The  ascension  of  Christ  is  the  guar- 
antee of  his  own  entire  emancipation  from  sin,  sorrow,  frailty, 
corruptibility.  You  have  many  things  in  common  with  him ; 
but,  unlike  you,  he  glories  only  in  the  cross  of .  Christ.  You 
make  many  donations,  and  men  praise  you  for  them ;  but  he 
performs  actions  that  will  be  mentioned  with  approbation  by 
Christ  at  the  last  day,  in  words  like  this  :  "  You  have  done  it 
unto  me.''  In  a  word,  he  has  faith  in  Christ ;  and  you  have 
not.  Your  faith  is  in  yourself;  and  until  you  know  yourself 
to  be  without  life,  Christ  can  be  of  no  advantage  to  you. 


July  21. — "  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory  save  in  the  cross  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ." — Galatians  vi.  14. 

Whatever  constitutes,  in  our  opinion,  our  chief  ground  of 
distinction,  that  is  the  thing  in  which  we  glory.  Like  the 
fabled  jewel  in  the  toad,  so  there  is  in  almost  every  man,  if  we 
may  believe  him,  a  very  wonderful  jewel.  He  finds  it  in  him- 
self; though  with  respect  to  others  the  whole  thing  is  a  fable. 
But  even  if  there  were  this  diamond  in  a  man's  nature,  the 
presence  of  self-esteem  would  turn  it  to  carbon  again.  To 
pride  yourself  on  any  good  is  to  lose  that  good.  Virtue  comes 
to  you,  not  that  she  may  make  you  love  yourself,  but  love  Him 
that  sent  her  to  you. 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  249 

There  are  those,  indeed,  who  glory  in  something  beside 
themselves.  A  man  glories  in  his  ancestors.  A  child  in  its 
father.  Men  are  proud  of  their  country.  Soldiers  glory  in 
their  commander.  A  successful  general  inspires  his  soldiers 
with  the  most  intense  enthusiasm,  so  that  they  are  ready  to 
throw  away  their  lives  at  the  slightest  expression  of  his  will. 

This  enthusiasm,  however,  must  be  aided  by  a  measure  of 
ignorance  in  order  to  endure.  Passionate  admiration  has  only 
to  come  very  near  its  object,  to  discover  some  fatal  flaw.  No 
reputation  of  man  is  safe  where  there  is  abundant  light. 
And  the  great  art  of  men  is  to  veil  their  heroes.  Sometimes, 
however,  the  greatest  enemies  of  the  Bible  find  themselves 
speaking  the  language  of  the  Bible. 

"  Where  shall  the  wearied  eye  repose 
When  gazing  on  the  great. 
Where  neither  guilty  glory  glows 
Nor  despicable  hate  ?" 

Reading  the  history  of  humanity,  Paul  found  but  one  page 
on  which  his  eye  could  rest,  ever  rest,  with  unmingled  satis- 
faction. It  was  not  the  page  that  records  the  conquests  of 
Alexander ;  nor  that  which  describes  the  eloquence  of  Demos- 
thenes; nor  that  which  treats  of  Thermopylae.  He  passed 
dissatisfied  from  Homer  to  Eschylus,  to  Plato,  to  Socrates,  to 
Pythagoras,  to  Cato.  The  page  on  which  humanity  came  out 
faultlessly  glorious,  was  that  which  told  of  the  death  of  Him 
who  had  come  down  from  the  highest  heavens  and  assumed 
humanity  that  he  might  expose  the  worthlessness  of  all  that 
man  had  gloried  in  and  make  such  an  atonement  for  the  sins 
of  men  as  would  heal  the  division  then  yawning  like  a  great 
gulf  between  God  and  man.  At  the  cross  he  had  first  ob- 
tained a  correct  view  of  himself  and  of  all  mankind ;  an  ac- 
quaintance with  God ;  a  knowledge  of  time  and  of  eternity. 
And  that  which  taught  him  to  renounce  the  idea  of  man's 


250  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

nobility,  was  that  also  wliicli  disclosed  tlie  means  of  rising  to 
ike  highest  conceivable  degree  of  nobility.  It  poured  con- 
tempt on  princes ;  but  it  raised  men  from  the  dunghill  to  array 
them  in  robes  of  never-fading  splendor^  to  crown  them  with 
everlasting  joy. 


July  22. — "Walk  in  love,  as  Christ  also  hath  loved  us,  and  hath  given 
himself  for  us." — Ephesians  v.  2. 

That  is  to  say,  carry  on  the  life  which  Christ  lived.  In 
him  love  made  its  advent  to  the  earth ;  and  the  prayer  re- 
corded in  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  John,  shows  plainly  that 
the  idea  of  the  Saviour  was  not  that  that  divine  love  should 
take  its  departure  with  him  from  the  earth,  but  that  it  should 
abide  and  have  an  inextinguishable  life  in  his  disciples,  from 
generation  to  generation,  until  he  should  come  again.  This, 
then,  is  your  v^ocation.  To  walk  by  faith,  and  to  walk  in  love, 
let  these  things  be  one  in  your  experience. 

What  a  sublime  mission !  Grod  on  his  throne  in  heaven  is 
love.  Love  is  with  him  enthroned  in  heaven ;  love,  in  you, 
wanders  over  the  earth.  The  whole  universe  is  made  for  the 
manifestation  of  his  love ;  and  the  universe,  as  much  of  it  as 
you  will,  exists  for  the  manifestation  of  your  love.  It  is  the 
law  of  all  created  essences;  and  let  there  only  be  in  you  divine 
love  enthroned,  and  the  whole  creation  will  answer  your  glance, 
and  say  to  you,  "  Here  am  I."  It  must  wait  upon  you,  for  it 
must  wait  upon  love.  You  are  the  follower  of  Christ ;  conse- 
quently you  live  to  love. 

You  are,  however,  surrounded  by  a  world  of  unloving  and 
unlovely  beings ;  and  how  can  you  walk  in  love  here  ?  Con- 
sider that  formerly  you  found  no  difi&culty  in  loving  yourself; 
in  spite  of  all  the  repulsive  things  you  knew  about  yourself, 
you  went  on  loving  yourself,  with  an  unwavering  steadfastness. 
Consider,  again,  that  Christ  sets  you  the  example.     Does  it 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  251 

become  you  to  be  more  fastidious  than  he  is  ?  Is  the  servant 
greater  than  his  Lord  ?  Do  you  presume  to  despise  what  he 
regards  ?  Did  he  bring  too  much  love  down  from  heaven,  and 
must  you  send  some  of  it  back  ?  Consider,  again,  does  it  ap- 
pear wrong  that  you  should  be  loved  ?  Does  a  little  satisfy 
you  ?  Would  you  have  your  brethren  make  light  of  the  com- 
mand to  love  you  ?  Again,  is  there  any  better  way  of  bring- 
ing men  to  be  lovely,  than  this  very  way  of  love  ?  Finally,  Is 
there  any  habit  more  enriching  and  gla'ddening  to  your  own 
.  nature,  than  this  sacred  habit  of  love  ? 

You  may  well  say  that  you  have  not  attained,  neither  are 
already  perfect.  Nothing  less  is  solicited  at  your  hands,  than 
that  you  should  give  Christ's  mighty  love  an  unlimited  range 
of  your  nature. 

"  I  cannot  tutor  my  affections,"  you  say;  "  I  cannot  by  any 
word  of  command  constrain  my  heart  to  love."  Well,  then, 
try  this  way.  Be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  Christ's  love  to 
you.  Feed  upon  this  food ;  the  table  is  spread,  and  there  is 
no  stinted  supply.  Love  to  him  will  follow  without  difficulty. 
Then,  as  he  is  in  heaven  and  his  people  are  on  earth,  love 
him  in  them.     In  them  he  is  near. 


July  23. — "  This  is  his  commandment,  that  we  should  believe  on  the 
name  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  love  one  another." — 1  John  iii.  23. 

We  have  here  not  two  commandments,  but  one.  Faith  is 
naught  without  love ;  and  love  without  faith  is  not  the  love 
that  is  here  commanded.  "Love  believeth  all  things;"  and 
faith  "  worketh  by  love,"  exhibits  itself  in  love.  Selfishness  is 
the  grand  impediment-of  love;  but  faith  is  that  which  gets  the 
victory  over  selfishness,  by  showing  a  man  his  utter  unworthi- 
ness  and  the  perfect  folly  of  living  unto  himself  Faith  makes 
us  acquainted  with  the  love  of  Christ,  and  in  fact  introduces  it 
into  the  soul ;  and  this  love  begets  love.     Faith  enables  us  to 


252  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

contemplate  the  trutli  that  Christ  and  his  people  are  one,  and 
that  in  loving  them  we  are  responding  to  his  love.  Faith 
shows  us  what  there  is  of  Christ  in  them,  and  what  they  are 
to  be  hereafter.  We  have  seen  the  crowns,  the  royal  robes, 
the  celestial  dwelling-places  now  in  course  of  preparation  for 
them.  The  Holy  Spirit  in  us  is  the  author  of  faith ;  and  he 
will  not  tarry  with  us  unless  we  love.  If  they  have  sins,  faith 
teaches  us  so  to  pray  for  them  as  to  obtain  their  deliverance 
therefrom.  And  faith  also  teaches  us  how  to  do  good — not  to 
be  always  saying  smooth  things ;  not  to  leave  their  faults  un-. 
heeded ;  not  to  aim  that  they  may  be  always  comfortable  in 
mind.  But  as  it  teaches  us  that  the  leaving  of  Grod's  will  un- 
done, or  the  doing  of  what  he  willeth  not,  is  the  greatest  ca- 
lamity for  ourselves,  so  it  teaches  us  that  this  is  their  greatest 
calamity ;  and  it  keeps  us  more  intent  upon  their  growth  in 
grace  than  upon  their  momentary  pleasure,  though  even  this 
we  cannot  overlook  unless  there  be  a  necessity.  Christ  did 
not  take  it  as  a  kindness  when  Peter  said,  "  Far  be  it  from 
thee,  Lord,  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem,  the  city  of  thine  enemies !" 
Any  one  that  attempts  to  love  without  faith  will  be  sure  to 
make  wretched  work  of  it.  For  there  will  be  no  tendency  in 
his  love  to  draw  the  object  of  it  near  to  him  who  is  the  only 
fountain  of  happiness,  but  rather  to  draw  it  more  and  more 
away.  A  great  deal  that  is  called  love  is  fatal  and  withering 
toward  the  loved  one.  Pour  the  light  of  God's  truth  on  what 
are  called  romances,  and  what  melancholy  ghastly  things  do 
they  become. 

July  24. — "  He  that  covereth  his  sins  shall  not  prosper." — Proverbs 
xxviii.  13. 

Almost  all  men  are  intent  upon  appearing  better  than  they 
really  are.  If  a  man  cannot  be  what  he  ought  to  be,  he  at- 
tempts at  least  to  appear  so.  His  days  are  spent  in  a  frau- 
dulent attempt  to  pass  himself  off  as  something  better  than  he 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  253 

is.  The  same  amount  of  energy  devoted  to  the  purification  of 
his  character,  might  result  in  something  good.  What  watch- 
fulness !  What  circumspection !  What  attention  to  circum- 
stances !  What  study  of  men's  characters !  What  persever- 
ance !  What  self-command !  Were  these  qualities  and  habits 
devoted  to  the  legitimate  end  of  appearing  well  in  the  sight 
of  God,  what  magnificent  results  would  be  witnessed.  These 
are  the  very  things  that  Grod  requires  of  us :  watchfulness, 
carefulness,  perseverance,  self-control.  Man  shows  that  he  is 
capable  of  these  things ;  but  he  exercises  them  in  seeking  not 
the  essence,  but  a  fiction ;  not  the  favor  of  God,  but  that  of 
man.' 

The  habit  is  so  inveterate  that  few  are  conscious  of  it.  They 
suppose  they  are  acting  naturally,  and  have  no  conception  of 
the  measure  of  their  insincerity.  I  speak  not  of  the  hypo- 
crite, commonly  so  styled ;  but  of  all.  The  man  who  says,  "  1 
thank  God,  I  make  no  profession  to  be  better  than  others ;"  he. 
too,  is  playing  a  role,  though  he  cheats  himself  with  the  con- 
trary idea. 

Insincerity  in  religion,  the  endeavor  to  obtain  and  perpetu- 
ate a  reputation  for  piety,  is  something  exceedingly  ofi'ensive. 
There  is  something  monstrous  about  the  idea  of  offering  prayer 
in  such  a  way  as  to  secure  the  commendation  of  man. 

He  that  covereth  his  sins  shall  not  prosper ;  for  while  he 
covers  them  he  cannot  possibly  get  rid  of  them ;  and  their  pre- 
sence will  vitiate  all  prosperity.  Let  us  endure  the  shame  of 
confessing  them,  that  we  may  have  the  abiding  glory  of  being 
delivered  from  them.  Let  us  act  out  our  true  characters,  and 
take  our  true  place ;  then  we  may  expect  to  make  progress  of 
the  most  desirable  kind.  If  man  deride,  no  matter ;  we  have 
something  that  they  have  not.  Our  position  is  a  more 
promising  one  than  theirs ;  for  truth  is  now  on  our  side. 
22 


254  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

July  25. — "  They  have  washed  their  robes,  and  made  them  white  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb ;  therefore  are  they  before  the  throne  of  God." — Reve- 
lation vii.  14,  15. 

These  robes  are  symbolical  of  their  characters  once  defiled, 
now  made  pure  by  virtue  of  the  faith  which  they  have  exer- 
cised in  him  who  died  on  Calvary  that  he  might  redeem  us 
from  all  iniquity^  and  purify  us  unto  himself  a  peculiar  people. 
Observe  here  that  their  agency  is  spoken  of.  It  was,  indeed, 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb  that  purged  away  the  stains ',  but  they 
had  something  to  do ;  they  saw  and  loathed  the  impurity  of 
their  garments,  they  approached  the  fountain,  and  washed 
them  white.     Christ  gave  them  the  heart  to  do  it.  » 

The  saints  in  light  have  something  to  distinguish  them  from 
all  angels,  all  other  holy  beings.  They  are  not  pure,  but  pu- 
rified. They  were  once  impure,  once  steeped  in  sin  and  meet 
only  for  the  inheritance  of  the  devil  and  his  angels.  That  they 
have  become  the  companions  of  those  who  are  before  the 
throne,  will  be  a  wonder  ceaseless  through  all  eternity.  The  dis- 
tinction is  of  course  not  honorable  to  them ;  but  it  is  eminently 
honorable  to  Christ;  and  they  seek  no  honor  but  his.  By  rea- 
son of  their  intimate  alliance  with  him,  they  feel  at  home  in 
heaven  as  though  they  had  never  dwelt  elsewhere. 

They  wash  their  robes  on  earth  that  they  may  stand  before 
the  throne  of  Grod.  Do  you  belong  to  their  number  ?  Have 
you  knowledge  of  the  blood  of  Christ  ?  Such  knowledge  as 
tends  to  the  purification  of  your  character,  to  your  emancipa- 
tion from  sin  ?  Not  without  your  agency  will  this  spiritual 
transformation  take  place.  Delay  not;  for  how  soon  may  "the 
great  day  of  his  wrath"  burst  upon  the  world. 


July  26. — "Ye  are  bought  with  a  price;  therefore  glorify  God  in  your 
body  and  in  your  spirit,  which  are  God's." — 1  Corinthians  vi.  20. 

Rights  relating  to  property  are  carefully  guarded  by  men. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  255 

They  greatly  resent  any  unwarranted  use  of  what  belongs  to 
them.  To  touch  their  property  is  to  touch  them.  The  earth 
is  the  Lord's  and  the  fulness  thereof.  Man  sold  himself  to 
Satan  and  presumed  to  transfer  the  earth  and  the  fulness 
thereof  to  the  arch-apostate,  and  God  so  far  allowed  the  bar- 
gain (for  the  punishment  of  man.)  that  Satan  may  be  correctly 
styled  the  god  of  this  world.  "  He  that  committeth  sin  is  the 
servant  of  sin ;"  this  word  is  the  charter  of  Satan's  kingdom 
upon  earth.  But  into  the  slave-market  of  this  world  God  hath 
gone  in  the  person  of  his  Son,  and  paid  the  tremendous  price 
which  authorizes  him  to  take  as  many  as  he  can  find  willing  to 
go,  and  create  them  anew  in  the  image  of  the  Son.  They  that 
go,  go  willingly ;  fully  and  deliberately  recognizing  God's  ab- 
solute property  in  them;  and  any  subsequent  alienation  of 
their  powers  to  the  will  of  another,  is  most  base  and  inexcusa- 
ble. 

It  is  not  therefore  a  fragment  of  you  that  has  been  pur- 
chased ;  but  the  whole.  You  would  hardly  presume  to  say 
that  the  price  was  inadequate.  Yet  do  you  not  seem  to  say 
so  ?  How  much  of  your  time  is  the  Lord's  ?  Do  you  dress, 
feed,  employ  your  body  as  unto  the  Lord  ?  Is  your  tongue, 
3^our  hand  consecrated  all  to  him  ?  Your  memory,  imagina- 
tion, hope  ?  Your  love  and  faith  ?  Your  houses  and  lands  ? 
Your  influence  ? 


JtJLT  27. — "Therefore  will  not  we  fear,  though  the  earth  be  removed, 
and  though  the  mountains  be  carried  into  the  midst  of  the  sea." — Psalm 
xlvi.  2. 

The  language  of  the  highest  faith  is  the  language  of  the 
highest  courage.  Men  that  are  bold  enough  to  seek  the  bub- 
ble reputation  even  in  the' cannon's  mouth,  and  who  fear  not 
that  they  shall  ever  know  what  fear  is,  may  at  any  moment  be 
reduced  to  a  condition  of  the  most  abject  timidity  by  the  reve- 


256  DAILY    MEDITATIOXS. 

lation  of  tliat  Grod  whom  they  have  scorned  to  make  their  re- 
fuge and  strength. 

Fear  is  to  be  the  everlasting  portion  of  him  who  in  this  life 
refuses  to  fear.  Men  exclude  from  their  attention  those  truths 
that  are  calculated  to  alarm  them ;  and  resolve  to  retain  their 
self-confidence  unbroken,  at  whatever  cost.  They  wish  to  be 
without  fear ;  and  in  many  instances  their  wish  is  gratified ; 
they  pass  through  life,  and  pass  away  from  it,  without  any 
painful  apprehension.  But  they  have  only  been  accumulating 
an  everlasting  fund  of  terror  and  agony,  and  they  inherit,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  grave,  with  incalculable  interest,  what 
they  refused  to  receive  on  this  side.  They  defended  them- 
selves against  fear  by  the  amulet  of  delusion  j  by  some  scheme 
of  future  things  which  their  own  vain  minds  had  elaborated; 
but  delusion  is  not  allowed  to  cross  the  grave ;  and  there  they 
will  find  themselves  bereft  of  their  armor.  "  Fear  hath  torment.'' 
Who  can  express  this  torment  ?  The  terror-stricken  soul  expe- 
riences not  only  the  inflicted  sorrow  of  the  moment,  but  by  an- 
ticipation the  dread  interminable  sufi'ering  of  all  time  to  come. 

How  shall  our  souls  be  strong  in  the  day  when  Christ  shall 
come  in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not 
Grod,  and  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ? 
There  is  another  question  more  important ;  and  if  it  be  rightly 
answered,  we  can  dismiss  the  first.  What  am  I  now  fearing  ? 
The  displeasure  of  man,  or  that  of  Grod  ?  The  scorn  of  man 
or  that  of  Grod  ?  When  the  world  says,  "  Enter  not  this 
path,"  and  Grod  says,  "  Enter  it;"  when  the  world  says,  "  Be 
conformed  to  me,"  and  God  says,  "Be  not  conformed;"  when 
the  world  says,  "  Speak  not  of  Grod,  of  Christ,  of  sin,  of  eter- 
nity;" and  Grod  says,  "Speak  of  them;"  whom  do  I  obey? 
If  I  fear  not  in  my  daily,  hourly  walk,  the  wrath  and  derision 
of  mankind,  I  shall  be  kept  from  fear  in  the  great  day  of  Grod's 
wrath,  and  shall  dwell  in  safety  where  I  now  dwell  in  safety, 
beneath  the  shadow  of  his  wings. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  257 

July  28. — "  God  is  my  salvation  and  my  glory." — Psalm  Ixii.  7. 

God  is  my  Saviour ;  and  inasmucli  as  he  saves  me  by  bring- 
ing me  into  blessed  relations  to  himself,  clothe-s  me  "with  the 
garment  of  his  own  unsullied  righteousness,  and  jnakes  me  to 
bear  his  image,  I  may  well  speak  of  him  as  my  salvation.  This, 
like  a  thousand  other  passages  of  the  Old  Testament,  teaches 
the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  it  is  a  marvel  how  any  one  can  say 
that  the  evidences  of  this  are  chiefly  confined  to  the  New 
Testament.  Every  passage  in  the  Old  Testament  that  exhibits 
God  as  the  Saviour  of  his  people,  is  as  true  a  testimony  to  the 
divinity  of  Christ  as  anything  in  his  own  works  and  words. 
The  doctrine  of  Christ's  divinity  is  dear  to  the  believer,  not 
only  because  of  the  honor  that  thereby  redounds  to  Christ,  but 
because  all  the  honor  of  Christ  thereby  redounds  to  God.  It 
is  not  merely  the  exaltation  of  Christ,  but  the  condescension 
of  God,  that  attracts  him  to  the  gospel.  He  does  not  merely 
add  divinity  to  him  who  sat  upon  the  margin  of  the  well  at 
Syehar,  and  who  sailed  upon  the  lake  of  Gennesareth ;  he  adds 
humanity  to  the  infinite  God,  in  whom  he  lives,  moves,  and  has 
his  being. 

It  is  one  thing  to  hold  the  doctrine  of  Christ's  divinity,  and 
it  is  another  to  draw  from  the  doctrine  its  fullness  of  blessing. 
Have  I  been,  ^o  long  time  with  you,  and  yet  hast  thou  not 
known  me  ?  Many  that  are  accustomed  to  read  the  gospel 
have  no  idea  of  the  power  with  which  its  statements  would 
come  to  their  soul,  if  they  would  allow  this  doctrine  to  flash 
its  light  upon  the  words. 

They  read  for  instance,  Oh,  ye  of  little  faith,  how  long  shall 
I  be  with  you,  how  long  shall  I  suffer  you  ?  Let  them  con- 
sider these  words  as  revealing  the  mind  of  him  who  is  not  far 
from  any  one  of  us,  the  omniscient  and  immutable  God;  and 
let  them  discover  by  means  of  them  with  what  strong  dissatis- 
faction he  who  compasseth  their  path  and  their  lying-down  re- 
gards their  unbelief  How  long  shall  he  be  with  us  unknown 
22  * 


258  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

and  Tinperceived ;  how  long  sliall  the  boundless  and  ever-present 
riclies  of  liis  grace  be  offered  us  in  vain  ?  "  He  that  hath  seen 
me  hath  seen  the  Father."  Let  us  labor  to  connect  the  idea 
of  the  Almighty,  the  Ever-living,  Ever-present  one,  with  the 
words  and  acts  of  Christ. 


July  29. — "  Humble  yourselves  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  he  shall 
lift  you  up." — James  iv.  19. 

Humble  yourselves  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord ;  that  is,  hum- 
ble yourself  truly ;  for  his  eye  is  as  a  flame  of  fire ;  and  no 
mere  pretence  of  humility  will  pass  current  with  him.  He 
does  not  ask  you  to  conceal  your  pride  from  the  observation  of 
men,  but  to  mortify  it.  He  does  not  ask  you  to  be  humble 
merely  in  your  addresses  to  him ;  for  he  is  ever  with  you. 

In  order  to  humble  yourself,  know  yourself.  Pride  grows 
in  the  atmosphere  of  falsehood.  It  is  only  by  dint  of  lying 
that  a  soul  maintains  its  pride.  Let  God  reveal  you  to  your- 
self. Perhaps  the  esteem  in  which  you  are  held  by  man,  in- 
terposes a  difficulty.  You  have  a  position  in  society.  Men 
look  up  to  you.  They  treat  you  with  no  little  deference.  Re- 
ceiving thus  attention  and  respect  all  the  day  long,  it  becomes 
difficult  for  you  to  entertain  those  depreciatory  views  of  your- 
self that  God  requires.  But,  do  men  honor  you  for  what  is 
really  commendable  in  you ;  or,  for  things  that  are  merely  ad- 
ventitious, and  that  are  found  in  innumerable  instances  con- 
nected with  ungodliness?  If  they  honor  you  for  wealth, 
influence,  or  even  for  talent,  call  to  mind  that  there  are  thou- 
sands of  worthless  men  in  the  world  that  surpass  you  in  these 
respects.  It  is  in  direct  violation  of  the  command  of  God  that 
men  give  their  admiration  to  these  things.  What  they  have 
not  learned,  you  should  quickly  learn,  namely,  to  recognize 
God  as  the  giver  of  all  good  gifts,  and  to  ascribe  unto  him 
honor  and  glory.     It  is  of  more  importance  that  you  should  be 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  259 

humble,  than  that  you  should  he  wealthy  and  looked  up  to. 
And  you  know  what  Christ  hath  told  us  to  do,  when  cherished 
things  hinder  us  from  obtaining  something  better.  It  is  with 
reference  to  the  difficulties  you  now  plead  that  Christ  has  said, 
"  How  hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven."  It  is  hard  for  them  to  humble  themselves  in 
the  sight  of  God;  and  without  humility  there  is  no  entering 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

Perhaps  you  say,  "  No,  I  am  not  rich,  but  poor ;  mean  in 
station ;  unknown  to  the  men  of  the  world ;  but  God  has  be- 
stowed his  grace  upon  me  and  enabled  me  to  walk  in  his  paths ; 
Christian  brethren  admire  the  work  that  God  hath  wrought 
in  me,  and  their  commendation  hinders  me  from  being  clothed 
with  humility."  Hearken !  your  attainments  are  of  a  very  su- 
perficial character,  if  humility,  the  knowledge  of  your  own 
profound  un worthiness,  be  not  a  constant  tenant  of  your  breast. 
Most  imperfect  and  questionable  is  the  fabric  of  your  Christian 
character,  if  it  be  not  founded  broadly  and  solidly  in  humility. 
Just  exactly  therefore  in  the  degree  in  which  you  are  vain  of 
your  attainments,  you  condemn  your  attainments.  Say  unto 
pride,  I  have  no  need  of  thee  until  I  have  acquired  self-know- 
ledge and  the  deep  conviction  of  my  own  utter  unworthiness 
and  weakness,  and  until  my  soul  has  got  thoroughly  imbued 
with  the  persuasion  of  its  dependence  on  the  grace  of  Christ 
for  all  things.  Let  me  first  obtain  that  humility  without  which 
every  individual  is  but  a  loathsome  leper  in  the  universe  of 
God.  Then,  if  thou  please,  come  to  me ;  but  thou  shalt  come 
in  vain.  Thou  wilt  find  no  footing  on  the  landing-place  of  my 
soul.  Thy  proper  place  is  with  the  wicked,  the  incorrigible, 
the  base,  the  carnal,  the  devilish.  The  wickedest  being  in  exist- 
ence is  the  proudest.  A  man's  pride  is  ever  commensurate 
with  his  blindness  and  alienation  from  God. 

Humble  yourselveis  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  he  shall 
lift  you  up. 


2G0  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

July  30. — "  To  this  man  "will  I  look,  even  to  him  that  is  poor  and  of  a 
contrite  spirit." — Isaiah  Ixvi.  2. 

What  mighty  efforts,  and  how  many,  to  obtain  the  regard 
of  men  :  how  rare  the  effort  to  obtain  the  regard  of  God ! 
The  admiring  glance  of  God  passes  by  the  great  and  noble, 
the  wise  and  prudent,  the  wealthy,  the  powerful,  all  the  illus- 
trious that  shine  as  stars  in  the  firmament  of  this  world,  and 
singles  out  some  obscure  person  who  is  distinguished  by  no- 
thing but  a  poor  and  contrite  spirit,  God  looks  to  him  and 
God  alone.  The  mere  possession  of  humility  leaves  him  with- 
out the  slightest  power  to  attract  the  attention  of  men.  If  he 
had  but  an  arithmetical  talent ;  or  an  uncommon  memory ;  or 
an  unusual  degree  of  muscular  power ;  could  he  but  dance,  run 
far,  walk  quickly,  eat  much,  drink  much,  fast  much ;  had  he 
any  kind  of  ability  almost,  men  would  look  to  him ;  but  being 
merely  a  humble  man,  of  a  contrite  spirit,  singular  only  in  his 
freedom  from  pride ;  they  do  not  look  to  him.  God  looks  to 
him. 

God  can  do  something  with  such  a  man  as  that.  God  is 
love,  and  delighteth  in  mercy,  and  he  is  ever  seeking  whom 
he  can  bless ;  and  when  he  finds  a  man  of  a  poor  and  contrite 
spirit,  he  has  the  opportunity  of  blessing.  For  such  a  one 
will  receive  the  gifts  of  God  without  being  lifted  up  by  them ; 
he  knows  that  all  comes  to  him  in  the  way  of  unmerited  grace ; 
and  his  heart  will  glow  the  more  with  gratitude  and  self-for- 
getting affection,  the  more  that  God  bestows  upon  him.  He 
is  of  course  docile,  teachable ;  he  will  learn  the  ways  of  God 
and  will  walk  therein.  Do  not  imagine  that  he  is  a  poor- 
spirited  creature,  trembling  at  the  face  of  man.  No,  this  con- 
trite-hearted man,  when  he  hath  once  tasted  of  the  joy  of 
God's  salvation,  and  taken  knowledge  of  the  eye  of  his  God 
and  his  Saviour  fixed  upon  him,  is  thenceforth  lion-hearted  in 
the  presence  of  men.  He  is  at  the  disposition  of  God,  and  is 
whatever  his  heavenly  JMaster  wishes  him  to  be.     It  is  a  light 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  261 

thing  for  tlie  Spirit  of  God  to  make  of  such  a  one  a  Luther,  a 
Knox,  a  Paul;  to  bestow  upon  him  all  human  excellencies; 
and  give  him  power  to  thresh  mountains,  to  revolutionize 
kingdoms,  to  do  any  work  soever  that  needeth  to  be  done. 
He  is  in  the  school  of  God,  to  be  educated  by  God.  He  has 
begun  aright ;  and  eye  hath  not  yet  seen,  ear  hath  not  yet 
heard,  heart  hath  not  yet  conceived,  what  he  will  become  in 
the  plastic  hand  of  his  divine  Fashioner. 


July  31. — "And  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Sardis  write  :  These 
things  saith  he  that  hath  the  seven  Spirits  of  God,  and  the  seven  stars ; 
I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  hast  a  name  that  thou  livest,  and  art 
dead." — Revelation  iii.  1. 

The  seven  spirits  and  the  seven  stars  have  a  relation  to  each 
other.  It  is  the  divine  Spirit  that  is  spoken  of  thus ;  and  the 
intention  is  not  to  lower  our  conception  of  his  divinity,  but  to 
exalt  it.  The  Spirit  is  wholly  wheresoever  he  is ;  but  his  ma- 
nifestations are  modij&ed  and  affected  by  the  exigencies  of  those 
whom  he  blesses  with  his  presence.  The  unity  of  the  Spirit 
shall  be  witnessed  in  its  perfection,  only  when  the  different 
denominations  of  Christians  flow  together.  He  that  hath  the 
seven  stars  and  knows  their  divers  conditions,  wants,  trials,  in- 
firmities, and  characteristics,  hath  the  seven  Spirits,  and  is 
able  to  minister  unto  each  church  just  what  influence  and  ope- 
ration of  the  Holy  Spirit  may  be  demanded.  The  number 
"  seven'^  seems  suggested  by  the  candelabrum  of  the  tabernacle 
with  its  seven  lamps.  In  chapter  iv.  5  we  read  of  seven  lamps 
before  the  throne  which  are  the  seven  Spirits  of  God.  In  v. 
6,  the  Lamb's  seven  eyes  are  said  to  be  the  seven  Spirits  of 
God  sent  forth  into  all  the  earth.  As  no  one  could  attribute 
seven  eyes  to  Christ  in  any  natural  sense,  so  it  would  be  wildly 
absurd  for  any  one  to  conceive  of  essential  plurality  in  the 
Spirit.  It  is  by  his  divine  perfections  that  Christ  is  present 
in  all  the  world ;  and  it  is  thus  the  Spirit  of  God  is  present. 


262  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

"  I  know  tliy  works  that  tliou  hast  a  name  that  thou  livest 
and  art  dead."  The  expression  "  I  know  thy  works"  has  been 
hitherto  used  in  a  commendatory  and  encouraging  sense.  ^  It 
was  a  matter  of  congTatulation  to  the  four  churches  mentioned 
in  the  preceding  chapter,  that  the  Lord  was  acquainted  with 
their  works.  But  it  was  otherwise  with  the  church  of  Sardis. 
The  works  were  such  as  to  proclaim  this  church  dead.  The 
gardener  has  no  difficulty  in  discerning  the  eyidences  that  a 
plant  is  dead.  The  persistent  absence  of  friiit  when  fruit  is 
due,  is  sufficient  to  condemn  the  tree. 

It  is  bad  enough  to  be  dead,  but,  oh,  how  perilous  to  be 
dead  with  a  name  to  live !  The  life-giving  influences  that 
would  seek  the  merely  dead,  turn  aside  from  that  which  pro- 
fesses to  have  life.  Salvation  is  running  to  and  fro  in  the 
earth,  seeking  the  lost ;  but  when  it  comes  near  that  which 
professes  to  be  in  Christ,  it  is  turned  away  by  the  declaration, 
"  I  have  no  need."  The  more  there  is  of  this  semblance, 
(with  no  reality)  the  greater  the  danger.  But  this  is  not  all. 
The  dead  thing  that  has  a  name  to  live,  is  deadly ;  it  deals  in 
death;  it  assimilates  all  around  to  itself;  it  testifies  powerfully 
against  vital  religion  by  the  exhibition  of  a  lifeless  religion. 
If  the  light  in  you  be  darkness,  how  great  that  darkness ! 
How  mightily  grew  Sardis  !  how  large  the  place  it  occupies  in 
the  ecclesiastical  history  of  the  last  eighteen  centuries !  how 
baleful  its  influence  upon  the  other  churches,  so  that  they  had 
almost  to  hide  their  diminished  heads ;  and  how  largely  is  it 
represented  at  the  present  day  upon  the  earth !  Men  know 
our  name ;  Christ  knows  our  works. 


August  1. — "Look  unto  me  and  be  ye  saved,  all  the  ends  of  the  earth.'' 
--Isaiah  xlv.  22. 

Thus  early  and  thus  distinctly  do  we  find  the  gospel  emanci- 
pated, and  the  Spirit  of  God  breaking  away  from  his  prison- 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  263 

house,  from  Judea,  to  utter  a  premonitory  invitation  in  the 
ears  of  distant  nations,  occupied  with  their  idols.  We  should 
never  allow  ourselves  to  suppose  that  when  Grod  was  bestowing 
so  much  labor  of  love  upon  the  Jewish  nation,  that  he  was 
then  unmindful  of  the  rest  of  mankind.  God  took  nothing 
away  from  the  other  nations  of  the  earth,  when  he  made  the 
Jewish  people  the  object  of  peculiar  care.  Not  one  prophet 
was  taken  away  from  the  other  families  of  the  earth;  not  one 
truth  that  had  been  bestowed  upon  mankind  at  large  was  sup- 
pressed; and  not  one  promise  that  made  known  Grod  as  the 
hearer  of  all  who  call  upon  him  in  truth,  was  taken  back. 

The  Jewish  economy  was  an  economy  of  special  grace,  with 
reference  to  a  glorious  end  embracing  the  destinies  of  all  na- 
tions. "When  Grod  chose  Abraham,  he  over  and  over  declared 
that  his  thoughts  were  on  something  more  than  the  seed  of 
Abraham.  "  In  you  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be 
blessed."  And  from  first  to  last,  all  that  Grod  did  to  the  Jew- 
ish nation  had  reference  to  the  hour  when  the  Lord  Jesus 
should  command  his  Gospel  to  be  preached  among  all  nations, 
and  when  the  completed  volume  of  the  grace  of  God,  the  Old 
Testament  and  the  New  Testament  should  be  tendered,  with 
all  their  revelations  and  all  their  promises,  to  every  creature. 
The  very  Jewish  feasts  had  a  world-wide  significance.  The 
passover  told  of  the  Lamb  that  should  take  away  the  sin  of  the 
world ;  the  feast  of  weeks  told  of  the  pentecostal  publication 
of  the  gospel  in  all  tongues ;  the  feast  of  tabernacles  tells  of  the 
mighty  ingathering  that  is  to  be. 


August  2.— "Behold  I  come  as  a  thief.  Blessed  is  he  that  watcheth." 
— Eevelation  xvi.  15. 

A  thief  comes  only  where  he  is  not  expected.  His  grfeat  in- 
terest is  that  people  should  be  off  their  guard.  Where  there 
is  watchfulness,  there  is  no  opening  for  him.     Our  Lord  comes 


264  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

as  a  thief  upon  the  world,  because  the  world  has  no  expectation 
of  him.  The  world  has  no  more  thought  of  his  coming  than 
it  has  of  the  coming  of  Socrates  or  Alexander.  This  is  not,  be 
it  understood,  because  Christ  has  done  anything  to  keep  the 
world  unaware  of  his  coming.  He  has  sent  the  fullest  infor- 
mation to  every  creature.  He  has  given  an  open  book  to  the 
world  in  which  is  an  ample  account  of  his  future  coming.  The 
mode,  the  circumstances,  and  something  too  of  the  time,  are 
published  beforehand.  What  makes  his  coming  to  be  that  of 
the  thief,  is  the  blindness,  the  stupidity  of  men  in  all  that  re- 
lates to  religious  matters.  He  shows  them  even  the  key  by 
which  he  will  enter  their  house ;  but  nothing  produces  an  im- 
pression. 

There  are  those  who  profess  to  be  his  servants,  who  also  say, 
''  Our  Lord  delay eth  his  coming.''  Their  sense  of  responsi- 
bility loses  its  keenness,  and  they  are  in  great  danger  of  being 
found  in  an  unprepared  state.  Blessed  are  they  who  say,  The 
time  is  short.  We  know  not  what  the  morrow  may  bring  forth. 
They  sleep  not  without  seeing  that  there  is  oil  for  their  lamps. 


August  3. — "  Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever." — 
Hebrews  xiii.  8. 

Amidst  the  mutations  of  character,  the  fluctuations  of  time, 
and  the  vicissitudes  of  events,  the  soul  longs  for  something  that 
does  not  and  that  cannot  change,  to  which  it  may  attach  itself 
and  thus  find  compensation  for  all  the  mutabilities  of  which  It 
is  compelled  to  have  experience  in  this  world.  There  needs 
of  course  something  else  besides  immutability  in  order  to  con- 
stitute an  object  worthy  of  our  earnest  attention  and  heart-felt 
confidence.  We  cannot  desire  immutability  where  there  is 
anything  less  than  perfection.  But  where  the  highest  possible 
excellence  resides,  there  unchangeableness  becomes  a  thing 
greatly  to  be  desired.     Above  all  when  we  stand  in  a  certain 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  265 

relation  to  this  incomparable  object;  when  the  perfections  of 
this  unchangeable  one  are  made  available  for  us;  when  his 
power  supplements  our  weakness ;  his  wisdom  our,  ignorance ; 
when  he  in  all  his  plenitude  of  perfection  is  our  own  particular 
treasury  from  whence  we  may  draw  everlasting  supplies.  Then, 
Oh,  then,  let  change  approach  him  not,  but  stand  respectfully 
beyond  the  circle  drawn  by  his  divine  nature. 

How  vain  were  it  to  go  everywhere  preaching  the  gospel  of 
the  grace  of  God,  of  God's  grace  incarnate  in  Christ,  if  Christ 
were  not  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever.  Why  should 
we  go  telling  men  of  what  Christ  said  and  did  to  the  leper,  of 
his  conversation  with  the  woman  of  Samaria,  of  his  instructions 
to  his  disciples,  his  rebukes  addressed  to  the  Pharisees,  his  de- 
meanor in  the  presence  of  his  enemies,  his  emotion  at  the 
grave  of  Lazarus,  his  kindness  to  sinners  and  publicans,  his  in- 
vitations to  the  laboring  and  heavy-laden,  his  affliction  and 
agony  in  Gethsemane,  his  sufferance  of  indignities  in  the  Prae- 
torium,  his  prayer  on  the  cross,  and  his  words  to  the  penitent 
thief;  why  should  we  go  about  telling  men  these  things,  if  it 
were  not  that  they  occurred  in  the  life  of  one  who  is  the  same 
yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever  ? 

Yes,  this  gospel  is  everlasting.  It  is  not  an  ancient  book ; 
but  the  book  of  this  generation.  There  is  not  the  least  trace 
of  decrepitude  about  it.  It  blooms  with  immortal  youth.  By 
means  of  it  Christ  this  very  day  approaches  you,  and  reveals 
feelings  that  he  entertains  for  you,  entertains  for  you  now,  will 
ever  entertain.  An  archangelic  trump  uttering  in  the  skies 
the  words,  "  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy- 
laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest,"  would  not  be  to  us  any  more 
reliable  evidence  of  the  present  disposition  of  Him  who  sits 
upon  the  throne,  than  these  same  words  in  the  Gospel  afford. 
And  it  becomes  us  to  be  well  aware  of  this  as  we  peruse  the 
gospel  history  or  dwell  upon  its  statements.  Would  not  some 
find  in  their  hand  a  new  and  wondrous  gospel,  radiant  with  a 

2Z 


266  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

glory  hitherto  unsuspected,  if  they  would  begin  to  read  it  with 
this  great  truth  firmly  enthroned  in  their  convictions,  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever  ? 


August  4. — '*  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock." — Rev.  iii.  20. 

In  manifold  ways,  Christ  reveals  unto  men  that  he  is  willing 
and  ready  to  enter  into  relations  with  them ;  and  to  those  who 
have  already  some  knowledge  of  him,  he  gives  many  a  token 
that  he  is  ready  to  enter  into  more  intimate  and  hallowed  re- 
lations with  them.  He  does  not  wait,  that  men  should  seek 
him ;  he  does  not  send  word  that  he  is  waiting  for  them ;  he 
comes  to  them.  He  does  not  merely  come :  he  stands  and 
knocks. 

The  door  is  for  the  purpose  of  excluding  enemies,  and  those 
whose  visits  are  unwelcome ;  and  you  quickly  rise  when  you 
hear  the  voice  of  a  friend,  and  hasten  to  open  the  door  that 
there  may  be  no  barrier  between  him  and  you.  Another  per- 
son might  easily  discover  your  feelings  towards  the  one  that 
knocks,  by  the  response  you  make.  Your  countenance,  your 
movements,  all  would  show  the  feelings  you  entertain.  Christ 
stands  and  knocks,  and  men  are  not  aware  of  it.  They  are  so 
busy  hearkening  to  voices  of  earth,  the  world  makes  such  a 
sound  in  their  ears,  or  the  slumber  of  unbelief  is  so  heavy,  that 
they  hear  not  the  Saviour's  knock.  Blessed  are  they  who  cul- 
tivate the  faculty  of  quickly  detecting  the  foot-fall  of  Christ, 
and  start  up  as  soon  as  they  hear  his  knock. 

He  knocks  by  his  providence,  as  when  he  takes  away  your 
property,  or  your  health,  or  your  bosom  friend ;  when  he  places 
you  in  new  and  trying  circumstances  with  many  and  wide- 
branching  responsibilities ;  when  he  takes  you  away  from  loved 
scenes ;  when  some  mighty  display  of  his  power  in  the  natural 
world,  arrests  your  attention  ; — by  his  servants,  moving  them 
jLo  address  you  in  the  language  of  exhortation  or  admonition ; 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  267 

— by  his  word,  with  its  gracious  promises  or  tender  upbraid- 
ings ; — by  a  manifest  work  of  grace  in  the  heart  of  another. 

I  say  unto  you,  hearken ;  hearken  diligently,  turning  away 
from  the  vain  babbling  of  the  world ',  and  you  shall  hear  the 
knock  of  Christ.  You  shall  never  be  without  an  intimation 
from  him,  that  he  is  nigh  and  ready  to  bless.  Show  hospitality 
to  him  in  the  world  and  he  will  receive  you  into  everlasting 
habitations ;  receive  him  into  your  heart  and  he  will  give  you  an 
abundant  entrance  into  the  glorious  mansions  of  his  Father.  How 
wise  was  it  in  that  poor  woman  to  share  her  supper  with 
Elijah;  famine  was  just  then  coming  over  the  threshold  to  in- 
stal  himself  at  her  board  ',  but  was  compelled  to  take  an  ever- 
lasting flight.  "  If  any  man  hear  my  voice,  and  open  unto 
me,"  says  Christ,  "  I  will  come  in  and  sup  with  him  and  he 
with  me ;  I  will  come  and  make  his  earthly  lot  glad  with  my 
presence,  and  he  shall  come  and  participate  with  me  the  glory 
and  felicity  of  the  heavenly  life." 


August  5. — "  The  Lord  will  perfect  that  which  concerneth  me." — Psalm 
cxxxviii.  8. 

He  will  perfect  my  happiness.  "  My  people  shall  be  satisfied 
with  my  goodness."  He  will  perfect  his  own  image  in  me. 
He  will  make  me  perfect  in  wisdom ;  perfect  to  know  and  to 
do  his  will ;  perfect  to  glorify  the  Redeemer  ;  perfect  in  beauty 
and  in  strength. 

The  thought  of  humanity  being  again  clothed  with  perfec- 
tion is  something  altogether  wonderful.  It  was  a  light  thing 
to  call  a  world  into  existence  out  of  nothing;  but  to  take  a 
nature  that  had  become  earthly,  sensual,  devilish,  and  so  re- 
fashion it  that  it  should  be  transparent  to  all  the  rays  of  the 
Godhead,  is  what  a  mere  finite  conception  would  never  have 
shadowed  forth 

Man  is  engaged  in  perfecting  himself     From  the  very  be- 


•268  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

ginning  lie  lias  insisted  upon  it  that  all  lie  wanted  was  room 
and  time  and  liberty,  and  he  would  make  of  humanity  some- 
thing very  admirable.  He  has  had  all  the  opportunities  and 
advantages  he  could  desire.  Sometimes,  in  some  little  corner 
of  the  world,  Grod  has  permitted  him  to  clothe  himself  w^ith 
literary  and  artistic  glor}^ ;  to  surround  himself  with  beautiful 
statues  and  paintings ;  and  to  rise  to  the  heights  of  a  sublime 
eloquence.  But  Greece  and  Rome  in  their  palmiest  days,  only 
afforded  new  evidence  of  the  depravity  and  spiritual  blindness 
of  man,  and  what-^ie  was,  only  came  out  the  more  opprobri- 
ously  by  the  intimations  of  what  he  might  have  been,  and  all 
succeeding  cycles  have  shown  his  expectation  of  self-wrought 
perfection  to  be  utterly  delusive.  In  this  our  boasted  day  the 
most  frightful  immorality  in  the  most  favored  places  under  the 
sun,  shows  anew  the  utter  vanity  of  this  most  baseless  hope. 
And  all  this  time  there  has  been  present  with  man  a  heaven- 
descended  system,  pledging  him  perfection  in  the  truest  and 
amplest  sense  of  the  word.  What  need  we  talk  of  the  per- 
fectibility of  man  ?  It  is  impossible  with  man ;  most  possible 
with  Grod.  There  are  in  the  midst  of  us  men  and  women 
whom  Grod  is  engaged  in  carrying  to  perfection.  Let  us  join 
ourselves  to  their  number.  They  are  despised  by  the  world ; 
so  was  Christ.  The  world  sees  in  them  indeed  what  it  could 
not  see  in  Christ ;  much  imperfection ;  but  it  might  see  some- 
thing else  if  it  would;  namely,  a  germinant. perfection. 

It  was  because  Christ  was  made  perfect  in  suffering,  that  we 
have  this  hope.  In  the  day  of  sorrow  and  of  calamity,  do  I 
bear  well  in  mind  that  God  is  perfecting  that  which  concerneth 
me? 


August  6. — "  He  wliicli  soweth  sparingly,  shall  reap  also  sparingly." — 
2  Corinthians  ix.  6. 

The  farmer  could  not  make  a  greater  mistake,  than  to  sup- 
pose he  would  gain  by  not  scattering  his  seed  in  the  field.     To 


^DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  2G9 

keep  the  seed  is  to  deprive  it  of  its  value;  to  cut  oneself  off 
from  the  blessing  that  might  have  been  expected ',  and  to  in- 
flict the  greatest  wound  upon  the  future.  No,  scatter  it;  throw 
it  away  and  let  it  go  to  naught,  apparently,  and  be  long  lost, 
if  need  be,  and  forgotten ;  in  its  appointed  time  it  will  come 
up  loaded  with  treasures  which  it  has  gathered  from  the  secret 
places  of  the  earth.  Then  will  it  appear  that  your  wealth  is 
proportioned  to  your  liberality. 

There  is  to  be  a  judgment  according  to  works.  By  faith  in 
Christ  we  succeed  to  heaven ;  but  our  works,  evincing  the 
measure  of  our  faith,  will  determine  the  place  we  are  to  occupy 
in  heaven,  the  degree  of  glory  with  which  we  are  to  be  invested, 

But  what  is  meant  by  sowing  ?  Using  the  gifts  of  God  ac- 
cording to  the  will  of  God,  and  consequently  in  a  way  that 
will  produce  the  greatest  amount  of  good  to  our  fellow-men. 
Much  wisdom  is  needed  in  order  to  give  aright ;  but  we  are 
responsible  to  have  this  wisdom.  The  man  who  receives  gifts 
from  God,  receives  an  appointment  from  God;  namely,  that 
of  donor ;  and  the  wisdom  to  discharge  the  functions  connected 
with  this  appointment  will  surely  not  be  withheld,  if  it  be  in- 
genuously asked.  We  are  to  look  upon  the  world  as  God  looks 
upon  it,  and  then  we  shall  know  how  to  minister  to  our  fellow- 
men. 

You  are  a  believer,  are  you  not  ?  You  are  expecting 
heaven  through  the  grace  of  Christ  which  you  appropriate  by 
faith.  But  do  not  suppose,  0  friend,  that  the  faith  by  which 
you  shall  be  saved  is  one  faith,  and  the  faith  that  leads  to  gen- 
erous acts  is  another  faith.  When  I  see  you  scattering  seed,  I 
look  at  the  very  faith  which  is  to  bring  about  your  salvation. 
Your  daily,  hourly  movements,  call  men  to  look  upon  that  pre- 
cious principle  which  is  to  open  for  you,  if  they  be  opened  for 
you,  the  gates  of  heaven.  You  are  to  live  by  faith ;  to  live 
now  by  it,  if  you  would  live  hereafter  by  it. 

23  ^ 


270  DAILY    MEDITATIOXS. 

August  7. — "We  are  his  workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  unto 
good  works." — Ephesians  ii.  10. 

If  we  are  created  anew,  we  are  created  unto  good  works. 
The  world  ought  not  to  be  angry  with  God  for  creating  men 
anew;  for  he  is  creating  them  for  this  among  other  things  that 
they  may  tread  in  the  footsteps  of  'their  Divine  Master  and 
abound  in  good  works  to  their  fellow-men.  The  world,  how- 
ever, is  irritated  at  the  proposition  that  men  need  a  special 
creation  in  order  to  become  competent  to  bestow  good  gifts. 
It  professes  to  be  able  to  point  to  men,  who  have  spent  for- 
tune, time,  health,  in  a  whole-hearted  endeavor  to  do  good  to 
their  fellow-men. 

But  consider  that  it  is  one  thing  to  give  a  poor  creature  on 
his  way  to  the  gallows,  a  cup  of  water,  and  another  thing  to 
save  him  from  the  gallows.  One  thing  to  make  the  cell  of  a 
criminal  comfortable,  and  another  thing  to  save  him  from 
crime  and  put  within  his  reach  the  means  of  attaining  to  ever- 
lasting bliss.  The  world,  obedient  to  the  instincts  that  God 
has  implanted,  often  looks  around  to  see  what  oasis  it  can  cre- 
ate in  the  desert  of  this  world )  but  alas !  the  trees  which  it 
plants  yield  no  immortal  fruit. 

Until  a  poor  creature  has  been  brought  to  God,  all  that  you 
can  do  for  him  is  of  comparatively  little  moment.  If  your 
benefits  tend  to  this,  even  indirectly,  well  and  good.  You 
may  exercise  your  generosity  in  such  a  way  as  shall  tend  to 
keep  the  man  ignorant  that  there  is  a  gospel,  and  that  he 
needs  it  absolutely. 

August  8.— "Be  thou  faithful  unto  death  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown 
of  life." — Revelation  ii.  10.  , 

The  meaning  is  not.  Be  thou  faithful  all  thy  days;  but, 
have  thou  that  faithfulness  which  characterizes  the  martyr 
disciple,  leads  him  to  count  not  his  life  dear  unto  himself,  and 
enables  hira  at  any  moment  to  lay  it  at  down  freely  in  the  ser- 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  271 

vice  of  his  Master.  The  expression  does  not  refer  to  length 
of  service,  but  to  entireness  of  consecration.  Be  thon  unre- 
bukably  faithful  in  all  possible  situations  and  circumstances. 

Christ  requires  of  every  disciple  that  he  should  have  the 
spirit  of  a  martyr.  At  the  very  outset  he  informs  those  who 
come  unto  him  that  they  are  to  take  up  their  cross  and  follow 
him.  And  if  at  any  time  he  should  summon  any  number  of 
his  followers,  and  send  them  upon  a  service  where  death  is 
certain,  not  one  of  them  has  any  right  to  complain.  It  was 
so  written  in  the  bond.  They  gave  him  from  the  very  first 
their  early  life,  to  receive  from  him  a  heavenly  life. 

We  are  to  be  faithful  unto  death,  this  day,  and  every  day. 
We  are  to  live  a  life  of  entire  consecration  j  crucified  unto  the 
world  and  the  world  unto  us.  And  if  we  have  sufficient  faith 
to  let  him  day  by  day,  and  in  all  things  dispose  of  us,  take  what 
he  will,  give  what  he  will,  send  where  he  will,  we  need  not 
envy  those  w^ho  literally  sufi'ered  martyrdom  for  his  name's 
sake.  For  us,  too,  there  is  laid  up  a  crown  of  life.  Not 
merely  do  we  obtain  a  true  life  in  exchange  for  the  false  life 
of  this  earth ;  but  a  glorious  life ;  a  life  that  shall  be  to  us 
more  ennobling  and  exalting  than  all  the  crowns  of  earth. 


August  9. — "  These  things  have  I  written  unto  you,  that  ye  may  know 
that  ye  have  eternal  life." — 1  John  v.  1.3. 

By  life  the  Scripture  means,  true  life,  life  in  union  to  God, 
in  the  image  of  God;  life  with  bliss  and  purity.  An  eternity 
under  conditions  like  those  that  belong  to  the  life  of  sinful 
man,  were  utterly  undesirable.  True  life  includes  everything 
desirable,  and  the  entire  universe  of  God  is  just  one  of  its  per- 
quisites. They  that  believe  in  Christ  have  Christ.  They  that 
have  Christ  have  life.  They  that  have  life,  have  it  eternally. 
They  that  have  eternal  life  may  know  that  they  have  it,  and 
"rejoice  in  the  antepast  even  in  this  world.     The  Bible  is  given 


272  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

to  furnish  tliem  with  the  means  of  knowing  that  they  have  it 
If  they  find  their  names  there,  they  shall  certainly  find  them 
in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life.  As  many  as  are  the  children  of 
Grod,  they  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  who  is  the  Spirit  of 
truth,  and  not  only  sanctifies  them  by  the  truth,  but  shows  them 
their  own  new  image  in  the  mirror  of  the  truth. 


August  10. — " He  that  hath  the  Son  hath  life;  and  he  that  hath  not 
the  Son,  hath  not  life." — 1  John  v.  12. 

Hast  thou  considered  well,  0  John  the  son  of  Zebedee,  the 
beloved  disciple,  what  is  implied  in  these  words  of  thine? 
These  words  fly  in  the  face  of  all  human  philosophies,  and 
give  a  picture  of  the  world  such  as  all  the  world  is  sure  to  ab- 
hor. They  will  laugh  thee  to  scorn,  with  thy  description  of 
mankind  as  being  without  life  save  as  they  find  it  in  Christ. 
For  thy  words,  if  they  mean  anything,  declare  that  all  the 
world  have  become  obnoxious  to  the  everlasting  wrath  of  God, 
and  are  going  down  to  perdition,  no  man  having  any  goodness 
upon  which  he  can  rely  for  salvation ;  and  that  the  favor  of 
God,  even  life  everlasting,  is  on\j  to  be  obtained  by  renuncia- 
tion of  one's  own  wisdom  and  virtue  and  strength,  or  rather 
of  the  vain  dream  of  these,  and  by  a  simple,  whole-souled  faith 
in  Christ  who  died  for  sinners.  These  words  of  thine  contain 
the  very  essence  of  the  gospel,  and  exhibit  it  in  stern,  positive, 
uncompromising  language,  such  as  men  can  by  no  means  brook. 
The  gospel  thus  uttered  irritates  men  beyond  endurance  ;  and 
makes  them  bring  fagots  and  prepare  the  stake.  At  all  events 
they  will  think  thee  a  poor,  bigoted,  self-blinded  creature,  with 
thy  horrid  Calvinistic  representation  of  mankind. 

I  know  what  I  say — might  John  reply, — and  what  efi"ect  it 
is  calculated  to  produce  upon  men.  And  yet  I  know  that  I 
speak  with  love  and  with  wisdom ;  love  and  wisdom  given  from 
on   high.     A  great  many  beautiful   gifts  of  God   still   lingei 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  278 

around  fallen  humanity,  and  testify  of  that  height  from  which 
it  has  fallen ;  these  gifts  men  look  upon  as  a  pledge  of  salva-' 
tion ;  a  fatal  error  and  a  strange  one ;  for  they  only  enhance 
the  condemnation  of  those  who,  possessing  them,  nevertheless 
abide  not  in  the  love  and  communion  of  God,  but  obey  their 
own  vitiated  will.  I  would  fain  have  all  men  know  of  the 
grace  of  God ;  therefore  I  tell  them  of  their  utter  graceless- 
ness  and  absolute  need  of  Christ.  This  despised  word  of  mine 
shall  live.  From  this  time  onward  through  all  generations,  it 
shall  be  without  interruption  precious  to  companies  of  believ- 
ing men.  Philosophies,  religions,  empires  shall  pass  away,  but 
this  word  shall  not  pass  away.  He  that  hath  the  Son  hath 
life ;  he  that  hath  not  the  Son  hath  not  life. 


August  11. — "  Be  watchful  and  strengthen  the  things  which  remain, 
that  are  ready  to  die." — Revelation  iii.  2. 

Unhappily,  it  is  when  men  most  need  to  be  watchful,  when 
the  flame  of  heavenly  grace  is  flickering  in  its  socket,  that 
they  are  least  disposed  to  be  watchful.  We  find  that  as  men 
advance  in  holiness,  make  great  attainments,  ascend  far  up 
above  the  region  in  which  ordinary  believers  walk,  that  they 
become  watchful  to  an  amazing  degree.  A  habit  of  argus  eyed 
watchfulness  is  in  fact,  itself,  the  evidence  of  a  great  victory 
over  the  enemy  of  the  soul.  When  men  have  declined  from 
grace,  and  when  the  adversary  has  all  but  riveted  his  chains 
again  upon  them,  in  the  moment  when,  if  ever,  they  need  to 
be  watchful,  just  then  they  are  least  of  all  disposed  to  fear,  to 
strive,  to  watch.  Happy  for  them  if  they  hear  in  that  critical 
moment  the  sovereign  voice  of  Christ,  saying,  "  Be  watchful 
and  strengthen  the  things  which  remain,  that  are  ready  to  die. 
Arise,  get  oil  for  your  lamps,  before  it  be  too  late." 

Imagine  a  great  army,  reduced  through  the  heedlessness 
and  ciFeminacy  of  their  general,  to  a  mere  handful  of  men ; 


27-1  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

their  tents  are  pitched  in  an  exposed  place;  the  enemy  in 
great  numbers  look  down  from  the  cliffs  above,  and  you  fully 
expect  that  in  the  next  minute  these  overwhelming  forces  will 
burst  upon  the  poor,  weak  remnant  and  annihilate  it.  But 
just  then  it  discovers  its  danger,  and  its  leader  remembers  in 
that  momentous  juncture  that  he  has  with  him  a  sword  of  di- 
vine temper,  a  breast-plate  that  will  quench  all  fiery  darts,  an 
invisible  legion  of  angels  :  he  scales  the  heights,  he  calls  upon 
his  Lord,  his  heavenly  auxiliaries  fight  for  him,  and  soon  he 
finds  himself  in  a  large  place.  Thenceforward,  let  him  never 
forget  the  ominous  experience  of  that  hour  past ;  and  let  him 
tremble  at  the  thought  of  every  step  that  would  take  him  down 
into  that  valley  of  confusion,  hard  by  the  abyss  of  perdition. 


August  12. — "In  due  season  we  shall  reap  if  we  faint  not." — Gal.  vi.  9. 

When  the  sinner  turns  from  the  error  of  his  way,  submits 
to  God  and  gives  himself  to  the  service  of  Christ,  he  thinks 
that  he  will  never  fail  to  enjoy  the  tokens  of  his  Father's 
favor.  The  change  in  himself  is  immense.  He  is  now  day 
and  night  intent  upon  doing  the  will  of  Grod,  whereas  formerly 
he  recked  not  of  it;  he  checks  within  himself  a  hundred 
impulses  that  formerly  had  full  sway.  He  naturally  expects 
that  perpetual  successes  shall  wait  upon  him  in  his  efforts  to  do 
good.  And  at  first,  for  the  maturing  of  his  faith,  Grod  often 
vouchsafes  to  him  prompt  and  glad  results.  But  he  is  soon 
called  to  pursue  a  higher  walk  of  faith,  and  find  long  intervals 
between  the  seed-time  and  the  harvest. 

We  shall  reap.  Others  scatter  in  vain.  Of  all  mankind, 
only  the  people  of  Grod  shall  gather  a  harvest  unto  everlasting 
life.  They  sow  the  seed  that  God  gives  them  in  the  way  ap- 
pointed by  him.  They  deny  themselves  for  the  good  of  others, 
of  property,  ease,  friends,  health;  and  whatsoever  they  do, 
they  do  for  the   glory  of  Christ.     From  men  they  oftentimes 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  275 

reap  ingratitude,  enmity,  defamation.  But  these  tilings  only 
augment  the  splendor  of  their  reward. 

If  ice  faint  not.  This  prepares  us  for  a  stern  trial  of  faith, 
for  a  long  long  period  (at  least  so  seeming,)  in  which  we  shall 
be  giving  much  and  receiving  naught.  We  spend  our  days, 
our  golden  days,  the  most  precious  of  all  our  possessions ;  we 
throw  them  as  it  were  into  a  gulf,  with  all  our  energies,  our 
intellectual  eflforts,  our  physical  strength,  the  glow  of  our  as- 
pirations, the  enthusiasm  of  our  nature,  our  property  of  various 
kinds )  and  so  far  as  there  is  anything  to  show  for  it  all,  we 
may  take  up  the  refrain,  "  We  have  spent  our  strength  for 
naught  and  our  labor  in  vain,"  But  if  we  endure  unto  t]je 
end,  if  we  keep  Christ's  works  unto  the  end,  if  we  faint  not, 
we  shall  reap,  and  that,  too,  with  a  fullness  surpassing  our  ut- 
most conceptions. 

In  due  season.  What  is  the  due  season  God  can  judge,  bet- 
ter than  any  other.  It  is  not  so  distant  that  we  should  be 
discouraged.  It  is  sufficiently  distant  to  afford  an  opportunity 
for  the  full  exhibition  of  our  faith. 


August  13. — "  Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord." — Revela- 
tion xiv.  13, 

The  additional  words  "  from  henceforth,"  give  this  passage 
a  specific  and  prophetical  meaning.  Neglecting  these  at  pres- 
ent, we  may  consider  the  great  unquestionable  truth  that  there 
is  for  the  Christian  a  blessedness  in  death.  Not  but  that  there 
is  something  better  than  death.  Death  is  one  of  the  enemies 
of  Christ  that  must  be  put  under  his  feet,  and  his  saints  shall 
one  day  get  the  victory  over  it,  and,  undergoing  a  change  at 
his  advent,  live  on  eternally.  In  the  meantime  however,  death 
is  constrained  with  other  agencies  to  work  together  for  good  to 
the  people  of  God,     Their  faith  deprives  him  of  his  terrors. 

Three  thousand  souls  an  hour,  fifty  a  minute,  pass  away  from 


27G  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

earth.  How  few  of  these  die  in  the  Lord  !  Think  of  this  you 
that  know  the  Lord,  and  whom  he  has  commissioned  to  make 
him  known.  You  are  to  meet  -these  souls  again;  and  happy 
will  it  be  for  you  if  you  are  able  to  show  that  you  sought  earn- 
estly to  obtain  for  your  fellow-men  this  blessedness. 

They  are  blessed,  for  they  have  great  peace  in  the  hour  of 
their  dissolution.  Their  cheerful  exit  confirms  the  faith  of 
those  that  behold,  and  brings  heaven  near.  It  sometimes  car- 
ries conviction  to  the  impenitent,  and  leads  them  to  seek  that 
God  who  has  such  power  to  sustain  and  bless  the  souls  of  his 
people.  They  pass  away  from  a  world  of  sin  and  temptation 
and  disappointment  and  vanity,  to  a  world  of  light  and  purity. 
They  depart  to  be  with  Christ, — to  dwell  in  the  mansions  which 
he  has  prepared  for  them, — to  associate  with  angels  and  with 
saints  in  light, — to  drink  of  the  rivers  of  pleasure  that  are  for- 
ever at  the  right  hand  of  God, — to  obtain  a  crown  of  right- 
eousness. 

And  if  the  king  has  summoned  one  of  his  own  away  from 
your  side,  can  you  greatly  grieve  ?  Does  not  the  blessedness 
of  that  departure  greatly  overbear  your  individual  brief  loss, 
and  flash  down  a  glory  upon  your  own  desolation  ?  Do  you 
think  much  more  of  jouv  own  poor  blessedness,  thus  inter- 
rupted, than  of  the  perfect  beatitude  into  which  the  other  has 
entered?  Would  you  make  war  upon  this  text?  For  the 
dead  that  die  in  the  Lord  are  blessed  for  this  among  other  rea- 
sons, that  they  leave  behind  them  unspeakable  consolations. 
Yes,  it  teaches  that  the  survivor,  who  had  a  property  in  the 
one  taken  away,  has  not  lost  anything,  but  has  seen  his  pro- 
perty taken  upon  high,  that  it  may  be  rendered  immeasurably 
more  valuable  and  kept  securely  till  the  day  of  the  restitution 
of  all  things.  We  do  not  want  our  wealth  with  us,  but  in  the 
country  to  which  we  are  going.  "  How  great  is  thy  goodness 
which  thou  hast  laid  up  for  them  that  fear  thee."  And  the 
loved  ones  taken  are  a  part  of  that  treasured  goodness.     Let 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  277 

Him  then  prepare  a  place  for  thee,  in  the  way  that  seems  best 
to  Him.  Too  large  an  earnest  of  the  inheritance  that  is  to 
come,  might  check  the  vigor  of  our  aspirations.  The  little 
paradises  of  earth,  very  little  worthy  of  the  name,  yet  clothe 
themselves  with  the  superior  power  that  belongs  to  present 
things,  and  disrobe  from  our  view  the  only  true  paradise  above. 


August  14. — "  Be  not  slothful,  but  followers  of  them  who  through  faith 
anJ  patience  inherit  the  promises." — Hebrews  vi.  12. 

Does  not  this  word  "  slothful"  accurately  characterize  the 
habit  of  mind  of  most  professors  of  religion  ?  While  we  be- 
hold them  diligently  in  the  pursuit  of  worldly  good,  laboring 
untiringly  on  in  the  acquisition  of  wealth ;  while  we  see  them 
exercising  circumspection,  vigilance,  forethought,  sagacity  in 
their  temporal  vocation,  and  giving  to  it  the  best  energies  of 
their  nature,  we  see  them  indolent  and  sluggish  in  all  that  re- 
lates to  their  heavenly  calling.  They  read  the  newspapers 
with  a  closeness  of  observation  that  nothing  can  escape;  but 
the  Bible  with  a  carelessness  that  leaves  them  just  as  ignorant 
afterwards  as  they  were  before.  When  topics  of  the  day  are 
discussed,  their  minds  are  easily  kept  on  the  stretch ;  but  in 
religious  meetings  they  are  obliged  to  exert  themselves  not  a 
little  to  keep  awake.  Any  excuse  is  sufficient  to  make  them 
dismiss  or  postpone  a  religious  duty ;  while  in  the  other  en- 
gagements of  life,  they  are  sufficiently  punctual.  They  are 
minutely  attentive  to  the  state  of  their  body,  and  take  good 
note  of  every  ailment  however  insignificant ;  but  they  are  not 
at  all  vigilant  in  the  examination  of  their  hearts  and  in  the 
avoidance  of  whatever  is  likely  to  be  prejudicial  to  their  spirit- 
ual interests.  On  the  whole  they  think  it  enough  to  give  to 
religion  the  mere  fragments  of  their  time  and  attention  and 
thought  and  energy. 

Be  not  as  they  are.  Be  not  slothful.  Be  slothful  with  rc- 
24 


278  DAILY    MEDITATIOXS. 

spect  to  all  other  things,  rather  than  this.  Let  your  greatest 
energy  be  given  to  this.  Not  merely  because  it  is  becoming, 
but  because  it  is  necessary.  There  would  be  a  very  serious 
defect  in  the  way  of  salvation,  if  it  bestowed  its  priceless  gifts 
on  slothful  men.  If  you  would  inherit  the  promised  kingdom, 
you  must  model  your  life  upon  the  lives  of  those  whose  faith 
and  patience  are  honorably  mentioned  in  the  eleventh  chapter 
of  Hebrews.  Be  sure  that  nothing  less  is  required  of  you 
than  was  demanded  of  them. 


August  15 — ''That  ye  present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  ac- 
ceptable unto  Grod." — Romans  xii.  1. 

You  are  exempt  from  the  necessity  of  bringing  lambs  and 
heifers  to  the  altar ;  but  the  aim  of  the  gospel  is  to  lead  you 
to  do  what  the  law  could  not  induce  men  to  do,  consecrate 
your  own  body  to  the  Lord,  bringing  it  daily  to  the  altar,  and 
devoting  it  to  the  execution  as  well  as  the  enduring  of  his  will. 
You  are  ever  ready  to  yield  it  unto  death  as  Abraham  was  his 
son ;  but  the  angel  of  the  Lord  ever  interposes  and  says,  God 
has  some  work  for  this  body  to  do ;  see  to  the  doing  of  that 
and  come  again. 

It  is  of  course  only  by  the  consecration  of  the  soul  that  that 
of  the  body  can  be  accomplished.  Grod's  will  must  be  cor- 
dially embraced  by  the  heart,  before  the  feet  or  the  hands  or 
the  tongue  will  move  to  execute  it.  So  intimate  is  the  union 
of  soul  and  body  that  the  consecration  of  the  one  involves  that 
of  the  other.  Let  no  man  suppose  that  his  heart  is  really 
given  to  the  Lord,  if  the  functions  of  his  body  be  not  em- 
ployed in  carrying  out  the  revealed  will  of  God.  The  Holy 
Ghost  does  not  nestle  in  the  heart,  shrouded  from  sight.  He 
is  not  living  in  us  if  he  is  not  effluent  from  us.  He  is  perpet- 
ually forth-flowing  by  the  tongue,  the  eyes,  the  hand,  the  feet, 
the  entire  person.     (John  vii.  38.) 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS  279 

August  16. — "Return,  ye  backsliding  children,  and  1  will  heal  your 
backslidings." — Jeremiah  iii.  22. 

Abandon  the  idea  that  you  must  recover  yourselves  from 
your  backslidings  and  then  approach  God.  Perhaps  you  think 
that  you  could  then  approach  him  with  some  confidence.  But 
does  God  forget  ?  And  will  he  look  complacently  upon  your 
mended  piety?  He  will  look  with  just  as  much  disgust  upon 
the  patched  robe  as  upon  the  rent  robe.  But  further  j^ou  ought 
to  know  better  than  to  entertain  such  an  heretical  notion  as 
that  you  are  able  to  recover  yourself  from  your  backsliding. 
Could  you  do  that  you  would  be  the  wonder  of  created  beings. 
To  recover  you  is  in  fact  the  work  of  God's  power  in  its  high- 
est flight.  Do  not  suppose  that  your  sin,  the  stigma  of  your 
declension  from  grace,  must  get  a  little  old,  and  then  you  will 
have  a  face  to  appear  before  God.  This  delusive  idea  will  take 
you  every  day  further  and  further  away  from  God,  and  make 
your  case  more  and  more  hopeless. 

No,  with  all  the  guilt  of  your  backsliding  full  and  fresh  in 
view,  hasten  to  God.  The  only  place  in  the  universe  where 
sin  can  be  disposed  of,  is  the  throne  of  God's  grace.  If  you 
throw  it  into  any  obscure  pit  and  think  you  have  done  with  it, 
you  make  a  signal  mistake.  .  A  legion  of  armed  warriors  will 
one  day  come  up  out  of  that  pit  and  fall  upon  you  with  unap- 
peasable ire.  God  alone  is  able  to  heal  your  backslidings,  and 
he  does  it  by  leading  you  to  dwell  upon  the  character  and  work 
of  our  sympathizing  High  Priest,  who  does  not  break  the 
bruised  reed,  nor  quench  the  smoking  flax,  nor  cast  away  as 
worthless  what  seems  to  men  irrevocably  gone. 


August  17. — "Delight  thyself  in  the  Lord;  and  he  shall  give  thee  the 
desires  of  thine  heart." — Psalm  xxxvii.  4. 

Turn  not  disdainfully  away  from  these  words  of  God,  as 
though  they  hnd  no  claim  upon  your  attention.     These  words 


280  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

come  to  you,  so  to  speak,  upon  your  own  invitation.  For, 
what  have  you  done  all  your  life  long,  but  rush  hither  and 
thither,  into  this  path  and  into  that,  crying  unceasingly,  "  How 
shall  I  obtain  the  desires  of  my  heart  ?"  Behold  here  an  an- 
swer to  your  life-long  question.  The  explanation  of  all  your 
disappointments,  the  remedy  of  all  your  sorrows,  is  here. 
Though  there  were  on  your  table,  waiting  your  perusal,  nu- 
merous missives,  some  with  the  royal  seal,  others  communicating 
news  of  enormous  gains  accruing  to  you,  yet  would  it  be  wise 
in  you  to  leave  them  all  unnoticed  rather  than  this  text.  If 
this  be  left  to  you,  no  matter  though  the  wind  carried  them  all 
away.  Nay,  if  you  should  escape  from  a  burning  house  with 
nothing  but  this  word,  you  were  richer  than  the  richest  of  the 
sons  of  earth.  For  what  all  other  things  faintly  and  stammer- 
in  gly  promise  to  bestow,  this  positively  promises.  What  is 
anything  good  for,  if  it  yield  you  not  the  desires  of  your  heart  ? 
Do  you  take  this  to  be  one  of  those  kind  lies  with  which  a 
mother  lulls  her  child  to  rest  ?  Or  a  flight  of  fancy  with  more 
strength  of  expression  than  depth  of  meaning?  Is  every 
foolish  promise  of  the  world  to  be  believed  before  the  delib- 
erate promise  of  the  most  high  God  ? 

In  order  that  the  desires  of  a  man's  heart  should  be  gratified, 
it  is  needful  that  they  should  be  rectified.  He  must  let  him- 
self be  led  into  the  path  that  leads  to  felicity.  He  must  de- 
light himself  in  the  Lord. 

"  But,"  you  reply,  "  this  is  mere  mysticism,  pietism.  The 
world  is  full  of  beautiful  and  attractive  objects,  made  so  by 
God,  and  placed  opposite  to  us,  that  we  may  look  upon  them 
and  rejoice  in  them.  Why  should  not  a  man  rejoice  in  his 
own  marvellous  faculties,  bestowed  by  his  Creator?  Why 
should  he  not  rejoice  in  human  society  and  in  all  the  amenities 
that  strew  the  path  of  life  ?  Why  should  he  not  rejoice  in 
art,  in  poetry,  music,  painting,  in  nature  and  in  the  representa- 
tions of  nature,  in  the  characteristics  of  his  time,  the  onward 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  281 

feweep  of  humanity,  in  the  immense  variety  of  literature,  in 
the  food  •  so  abundantly  provided  him  ?  "What  can  there  be 
better  than  to  delight  in  these  ?" 

Is  thy  heart  satisfied  with  them  ?  Is  discontent  a  stranger 
to  thy  heart,  and  do  murmurs  remain  far  from  thy  lips  ?  Canst 
thou  say,  I  want  no  more  ? 

Couldst  thou  answer  these  questions  in  the  affirmative,  there 
would  still  remain  a  difficulty.  Thy  beautiful  things  fade; 
the  objects  of  thy  delight  vanish  away.  The  more  attractive 
a  thing  is,  the  more  fatal  will  it  prove  to  thy  happiness.  For 
all  that  is  in  the  world  is  merely  here  on  exhibition.  It  ap- 
pears, is  admired,  and  is  then  withdrawn. 

No,  it  is  no  mysticism,  but  the  truest  philosophy,  the  only 
wisdom,  to  delight  thyself  in  the  Lord.  Do  this,  not  by  de- 
spising his  works,  but  by  discerning  the  connection  between 
them  and  him,  and  hearkening  to  the  tale  which  they  tell  of 
him.  All  beautiful  and  excellent  things  are  sent  to  show  you 
the  perfections  of  your  Grod  and  to  whisper  to  you  of  his  love. 
Delight  yourself  in  him  who  gave  his  Son  to  die  for  you ;  in 
other  words  love  the  things  that  he  loves,  shun  what  he  disap- 
proves ;  and  it  becomes  as  certain  that  your  desires  will  be 
gratified  as  that  the  desires  of  God  will  be  fulfilled. 


August  18. — "Commit  thy  way  unto  the  Lord;  trust  also  in  him;  and 
he  shall  bring  it  to  pass." — Psalm  xxxvii.  5. 

We  shall  find  it  impossible  to  commit  our  way  unto  the 
Lord,  unless  it  be  a  way  that  he  approves.  For  it  is  only  by 
faith  that  a  man  can  commit  his  way  unto  the  Lord ;  and  if 
there  be  the  least  suspicion  in  the  heart,  that  the  way  be  not  a 
good  one,  faith  will  refuse  to  have  anything  to  do  with  it.  As 
well  might  you  expect  Achan  to  bring  his  wedge  of  gold  and 
Babylonish  garment  to  Joshua  and  ask  him  to  take  care  of 
2-4  * 


282  DAILY    MEDITATIOXS. 

them ;  or  a  deserter  to  inquire  of  his  general  the  way  to  the 
enemy's  camp. 

Having  found  reason  to  believe  that  your  chosen  way  is  ap- 
proved of  heaven,  let  heaven  have  the  entire  direction  of 
whatever  relates  to  it.  Having  resolved  to  go  to  Rome  to 
preach  the  gospel  there,  be  content  that  God  should  bring 
you  there  in  chains,  as  a  culprit,  and  keep  you  there  as  a 
prisoner. 

And  this  committing  must  be  a  continuous,  not  a  single  act. 
You  are  to  trust  ever  in  His  wisdom,  goodness,  and  power — not 
only  in  generals  but  in  particulai's.  And  however  extraordi- 
nary may  seem  to  be  his  guidance,  however  near  to  the  preci- 
pice he  may  take  you,  you  are  not  to  snatch  the  reins  out  of 
his  hand.  '•  Whatever  is,  is  best,"  to  him  who,  with  an  en- 
lightened and  genuine  faith,  has  committed  his  way  unto  the 
Lord,  and  to  him  alone. 

Are  we  really  willing  to  have  all  our  ways  submitted  to  God 
for  him  to  pronounce  upon  them  ?  Are  there  not  some  of  our 
ways  which  have  become  to  us  through  long  habit  like  a  se- 
cond nature,  concerning  which  we  have  never  really  taken 
counsel  of  God  ?  There  is  nothing  about  which  a  man  needs 
to  be  more  scrutinizing  than  about  his  oldest  ways,  his  most 
confirmed  habits  and  views.  He  is  too  apt  to  take  for  granted 
the  divine  approbation  of  them. 

Why  are  some  Christians  so  anxious  and  fearful,  in  view  of 
some  anticipated  contingency  ?  Evidently  because  they  have 
not  left  the  matter  with  him.  They  have  taken  it  to  him  and 
brought  it  away  with  them. 

It  may  seem  a  prodigious  faith  to  regard  God  on  his  throne 
as  studious  of  all  that  concerns  us ;  but  such  faith  is  really  no 
bolder  than  is  the  faith  that  God  spared  not  his  only  begotten 
Son. 

Commit  thy  way  unto  the  Lord ;  trust  also  in  him ;  and  he 
shall  bring  it  to  pass. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  283 

August  19, — "We  walk  by  faith,  not  by  sight." — 2  Corinthians  v.  7. 

Every  man's  world  is  wliat  his  heart  makes  it  to  be.  When 
his  heart  changes,  the  world  changes.  When  faith  has  come 
in  and  renewed  his  heart,  he  thenceforth  walks  in  a  new 
world.  A  new  aspect  comes  over  the  face  of  all  things. 
Faith  reveals  to  him  new  and  most  important  truths  concern- 
ing everything,  so  that  he  can  no  longer  take  a  step  in  just 
the  mood  that  he  formerly  did,  nor  look  upon  a  single  indivi- 
dual as  he  once  did. 

Imagine  a  man  on  a  beautiful  island  where  there  are  a 
thousand  objects  to  allure  the  senses  and  gratify  the  mind. 
He  walks  in  groves,  or  reclines  in  bowers,  or  sits  upon  the 
grassy  bank  of  a  stream,  or  wanders  through  the  halls  of  a  pa- 
lace ;  now  with  one  gay  company,  now  with  another.  Or  if  "^^ 
he  list  he  embarks  in  some  serious  enterprise,  and  seeks  to  give 
his  higher  energies  play.  Until,  one  day,  wandering  alone  to 
the  extremity  of  the  island,  he  discovers  to  his  amazement 
that  it  is  a  floating  island,  and  that  a  mighty  current  is  bear- 
ing it  on  with  all  its  palaces  and  battlements  and  hanging  gar- 
dens and  with  all  its  companies  of  pleasure-loving  people,  bear- 
ing it  away,  bearing  it  whither  ?  Ah,  this  now  becomes  the 
most  important  of  all  questions !  As  he  returns,  everything  as- 
sumes in  his  eyes  an  unwonted  look.  As  he  reaches  the  sum- 
mit of  a  hill,  or  passes  along  the  verge  of  a  precipice,  or  looks 
upon  a  waterfall,  or  sees  a  company  of  men,  or  hears  music,  or 
notices  a  tradesman  counting  his  gains,  one  thought  possesses 
his  mindj  these  are  all  in  motion,  whither  are  they  going? 
Music  is  no  longer  music,  wine  no  longer  wine,  health  no 
longer  health  to  him.  The  discovery  he  has  made  puts  an  ex- 
tinguisher upon  all  that  he  once  called  light,  all  that  he  once 
called  pleasure.  At  length,  after  many  fruitless  inquiries,  he 
meets  with  one  who  inhabits  another  little  island  connected  for 
the  present  with  the  larger  one,  and  who  tells  him  that  the 
island  is  sweeping  on  to  a  gulf  of  destruction  and  to  an  abyss 


284  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

of  darkness ;  and  that  at  the  last  moment  the  little  isle  ten- 
anted by  those  who  have  known  their  danger  and  taken  refuge 
there,  will  he  detached  and  anchored  forever  in  a  blessed  re- 
gion. He  believes.  Henceforth  how  different  will  be  all  his 
perceptions  and  all  his  conduct  from  what  they  once  were. 


August  20. — "  Trust  in  the  Lord  and  do  good ;  and  verily  shalt  thou  be 
fed." — Psalm  xxxvii.  3. 

In  many  ways  faith  leads  to  beneficence.  Faith  discovers  to 
us  the  infinite  mercy  shown  by  God  in  providing  a  ransom  for 
us ;  and  the  contemplation  of  this  sacrifice  prompts  us  to  en- 
gage in  enterprises  for  the  good  of  our  fellow-men.  It  shows 
us  God  delighting  in  the  reciprocal  love  of  his  creatures  one  to 
another,  and  seeking  to  make  them  mutually  exponents  of  his 
love.  It  reveals  to  us  the  Lord  Jesus  who  pleased  not  himself, 
and  went  about  doing  good ;  and  teaches  us,  that  we  are  his 
disciples  only  while  we  follow  him.  It  keeps  fresh  in  our  me- 
mory the  promises;  such  as,  "  he  that  giveth  to  the  poor,  lend- 
eth  to  the  Lord ;"  "  inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of 
the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me."  It 
shows  us  that  we  have  nothing  which  we  can  properly  call  our 
own,  since  we  are  one  and  all  stewards  of  God,  and  must  here- 
after give  an  account  of  our  stewardship.  And  it  enables  us 
to  rest  in  full  assurance  upon  the  declarations  of  God  and  of 
Christ,  that  we  shall  be  fed,  that  no  good  thing  shall  be  with- 
held from  us,  that  we  are  of  more  account  than  many  sparrows. 

We  need  faith  in  order  to  know  how  to  do  good.  To  be 
charitable,  we  have  not  merely  to  overcome  our  own  reluctance 
to  give,  but  we  must  learn  from  God  how  to  relieve  the  wants 
of  men.  It  is  not  enough  to  stretch  forth  the  hand ;  it  must 
be  stretched  forth  in  wisdom,  wisdom  obtained  by  faith.  Again, 
if  a  man  whose  character  is  not  what  it  should  be,  who  does 
not  honor  God.  or  the  word   of  God.  if  such  an  one  ena-a<res 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  285 

from  some  motive  or  other  in  works  of  beneficence,  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  he  will  indirectly  do  more  evil  than  he 
will  directly  do  good.  For  his  kind  acts  will  tend  to  propitiate 
men  with  his  defective  religion,  and  will  go  far  to  make  them 
believe  that  the  fear  of  God  is  not  after  all  of  very  great  im- 
portance. 

AtJGUST  21. — "  To  him  that  ordereth  his  conversation  aright,  will  I  show 
the  salvation  of  God." — Psalm  1,  23. 

It  is  perhaps  needless  to  remark  that  the  word  conversation 
is  intended  to  include  the  entire  conduct, — literally,  the  way. 
The  ordering  of  one's  conversation,  implies  meditation  and 
study  as  to  what  one's  conduct  should  be,  in  its  various  par- 
ticulars ;  a  definite  and  well-understood  standard ;  a  solemn  and 
sustained  resolution  to  live  according  to  that  standard,  by  the 
help  of  God. 

Most  men  allow  themselves  to  be  wafted  along  by  the  cur- 
rent of  events ;  their  conduct  is  determined  by  circumstances 
and  casual  influences  rather  than  by  their  own  forethought  and 
decision.  And  so,  too,  with  Christians.  Very  many  of  these 
simply  rejoice  that  they  are  acted  on  by  better  influences  than 
once  they  were ;  and  do  not  realize  their  obligation  to  labor, 
under  the  teaching  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  at  the  formation  of  a 
new  and  holy  nature.  Many  seem  to  imagine  that  the  respon- 
sibility rests  with  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  that  they  are  to  be 
perfected  in  holiness  by  some  mysterious  process,  that  may 
just  as  well  go  on  when  they  are  asleep  as  at  any  other  time. 
But  the  Spirit  of  God  does  what  he  does  in  us  through  our 
own  agency  and  with  our  own  consciousness.  This  is  the  prin- 
cipal drift  of  the  direction,  "  Work  out  your  own  salvation 
with  fear  and  trembling  ]  for  it  is  God  who  [thus]  worketh  in 
you  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  own  good  pleasure." 

Perhaps  no  man  that  ever  lived  (if  we  except  the  apostles) 
engaged  more  earnestly  than  Jonathan  Edwards  in  the  work 


286  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

of  ordering  his  conversation  aright.  His  diary  reveals  him  to 
us,  a  youth  of  nineteen  or  twenty,  exercising  the  most  intense 
watchfulness  over  himself,  and  laying  hold  with  the  utmost 
avidity  of  every  flaw  that  appeared  in  his  heart  or  life,  in  order 
to  bring  his  energies  to  bear  upon  it,  frame  a  resolution  adapted 
to  it,  and  cry  to  Grod  for  deliverance  from  it.  All  that  fore- 
cast, and  preparation,  and  study,  and  determination,  and  prayer 
could  do  to  furnish  him  with  armor  in  the  hour  of  temptation, 
he  compelled  them  to  do.  Other  men  when  they  have  once 
fallen  into  temptation,  succumb  to  it  afterwards  the  more 
easily ;  but  with  him  it  was  otherwise ;  he  availed  himself  of 
the  knowledge  of  sin  once  obtained,  to  defeat  it  on  subsequent 
occasions.  Any  one  who  will  carefully  read  his  memoirs,  will 
discover  a  striking  illustration  of  the  fact  that  Grod  awakens 
the  utmost  energy  of  the  soul  when  he  would  accomplish  the 
deliverance  of  the  soul.  He  fought  the  good  fight  of  faith. 
Others  who  have  not  come  so  prominently  before  us,  may  per- 
haps have  fought  it  still  better.  If  so,  we  shall  know  them  in 
the  day  of  judgment. 

God  will  give  unto  those  who  order  their  conversation  aright, 
glorious  and  transporting  views  of  the  Saviour  and  of  redemp- 
tion throusrh  him. 


August  22. — "  Call  upon  me  in  the  day  of  trouble ;  I  will  deliver  thee, 
and  thou  shalt  glorify  me." — Psalm  1.  15. 

There  are  some  whose  cry  in  the  day  of  trouble  Grod  will 
not  hear ;  those,  namely,  who,  in  the  day  of  their  prosperity, 
heard  not  the  cry  of  the  poor  and  stretched  forth  no  helping 
hand  to  the  afflicted,  and  thus  gave  good  evidence  that  they 
had  no  ear  for  the  voice  of  Grod.  For  in  the  guise  of  a  poor 
man  Christ  stood  at  their  door,  time  and  again,  knocking  and 
asking  for  admittance )  but  they  would  not  hear.  In  the  day 
of  their  calamity,  he  will  not  hear  their  cry.     To  whom  then 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  287 

is  this  promise  given  ?  To  him  who  hath  made  the  Lord  his 
refuge,  and  taken  the  divine  will  for  his  guide. 

How  naturally  does  friendship  say,  "  Should  you  fall  into 
any  difficulty,  don't  hesitate  to  call  upon  me ;  I  will  do  what  I 
can  for  you."  Ah,  but  these  earthly  friends,  they  are  not  al- 
ways as  good  as  their  promises.  A  man  does  not  seem  so  in- 
teresting to  them  when  he  is  in  trouble  as  when  he  is  in  pros- 
perity J  his  defects  come  out  more  conspicuously.  And  even 
when  their  affection  remains  unchanged,  how  poor  is  their 
ability. 

Grod  does  not  say  to  us,  "  You  shall  not  know  trouble."  But 
he  says,  "  Trouble  shall  come  upon  you  in  order  that  I  may 
have  a  peculiar  opportunity  of  signalizing  my  love  toward  you, 
and  of  exhibiting  my  power  to  sustain.  And  in  order  that 
you  may  have  a  peculiar  opportunity  of  showing  your  love  to 
me,  your  trust,  your  patience,  your  steadfastness.  And  in  order 
that  the  world  may  see  the  wonderful  understanding  between 
God's  people  and  himself." 

I  will  deliver  thee.  Who  can  doubt  it  when  he  calls  to  mind 
how  this  Deliverer  endured,  in  G-ethsemane  and  on  Calvary, 
trouble  such  as  never  visited  the  soul  of  mere  man,  in  order 
to  pluck  us  as  a  brand  from  the  burning.  If  he  delivered 
when  it  cost  his  soul  so  much  to  deliver,  how  much  more  may 
we  confidently  expect  that  he  will  be  with  us  in  our  lesser 
troubles,  seeing  that  he  is  now  rich  in  mercy. 


August  23. — "The  steps  of  a  good  man  are  ordered  by  the  Lord;  and 
he  delighteth  in  his  way." — Psalm  xxxvii.  23. 

When  his  Son  was  on  the  earth,  clothing  humanity  with  a 
perfection  it  had  not  known  since  it  had  forfeited  paradise,  the 
beautiful  spectacle  attracted  the  regard  of  God,  and  nothing 
would  do  but  that  he  should  send  his  voice  down  into  the  ranks 


288  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

of  men  exclaiming,  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son  in  whom  I  am 
well  pleased." 

When  Christ  was  about  to  depart  out  of  the  world,  he  took 
steps  to  have  this  pleased  regard  of  the  Father  continue  to- 
wards those  whom  he  was  to  leave  behind,  even  to  his  disciples 
of  all  future  time.  He  offered  up  the  prayer,  "  That  the  love 
wherewith  thou  hast  loved  me  may  be  in  them  and  I  in  them. 
For  I  am  no  more  in  the  world,  but  they  are  in  the  world ; 
and  I  am  glorified  in  them."  The  Father  could  not  resist 
these  arguments.  And  so  the  Lord  delighteth  in  the  way  of 
the  good  man,  of  him  whose  steps  are  ordered  by  him,  and 
who  follows  in  the  footsteps  of  Christ.  For  he  only  is  a  good 
man  in  the  estimation  of  heaven,  whose  steps  are  ordered  by 
the  Lord,  who  is  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  to  whom  the  word 
of  God  is  a  lamp. 


August  24. — "Blessed  be  God  wlio  hath  not  turned  away  my  prayer, 
nor  his  mercy  from  me." — Psalm  Ixvi.  20, 

This  language  is  appropriate  to  one  who,  having  been  led  to 
supplicate  God  with  respect  to  some  matter  that  was  very  near 
his  heart,  has  afterwards  perhaps  waited  long  and  seen  many 
things  that  appeared  to  be  designed  by  Providence  to  extinguish 
faith  and  hope,  but  has  persevered  in  expectation,  and  finally  in 
some  golden  hour,  never  to  be  forgotten,  has  received  the  an- 
swer to  his  prayer,  in  most  abundant  measure,  pressed  down, 
shaken  together,  and  running  over. 

Thus  was  it  perhaps  with  the  sisters  of  Lazarus,  in  the  day 
of  his  sore  sickness.  His  sickness  had  at  first  no  power  to 
affright  them,  for  they  knew  the  love  of  Jesus,  and  judged  it 
sufficient  to  communicate  to  him  their  need.  They  felt  that 
their  prayer  must  be  answered,  their  brother  must  be  saved ; 
the  necessity  for  it  lay  very  deep,  even  in  the  depths  of  Christ's 
own  character,  who  could  not  but  be  true  unto  himself     But 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS  S.  239 

tlienceforward  everything  seemed  to  frown  upon  their  expecta- 
tion. Their  brother  sank  rapidly;  Jesus  came  not;  there 
came  no  message  even.  The  hours  as  they  vanished  seemed  to 
say  in  louder  and  still  louder  tones,  "  Prayer  avails  nothing; 
faith  in  Christ"  is  a  delusion.  And  when  Lazarus  was  buried, 
did  it  not  seem  as  though  all  the  promises  were  buried  with 
him,  the  faithfulness  of  Christ  shut  up  with  him  in  the  sepul- 
chre ?  But,  the  stone  is  at  length  rolled  away,  and  Lazarus 
comes  forth ;  best  of  all,  comes  forth  into  the  light  of  noon- 
day the  imperishable  faithfulness  of  Christ.  Then  with  over- 
flowing hearts  they  blessed  Grod,  who  had  not  turned  away  their 
prayer,  nor  his  mercy  from  them. 

Nothing  is  more  important  than  that  we  should  cherish  a 
habit  of  pouring  forth  our  hearts  in  gratitude  to  God,  in  view 
of  his  mercy  shown  in  responses  to  our  prayers.  One  end  for 
which  he  grants  us  our  desires,  is  that  we  may  express  grati- 
tude to  him ;  and  it  is  therefcfre  a  piece  of  dishonesty  in  us  to 
neglect  this.  Gratitude  is  a  most  important  aid  to  faith.  It 
serves  to  sink  the  memorials  of  benefits  deep  into  the  mind ; 
and  our  faith,  in  the  hour  of  prayer,  takes  great  courage  from 
the  contemplation  of  these.  And  then  again,  a  thing  may  be 
a  good  deal  more  than  itself.  In  itself  a  mere  trifle,  yet 
as  an  expression  of  God's  mercy,  and  as  a  token  that  we  have 
a  friend  on  the  throne,  it  is  of  priceless  value.  If  we  take  it 
without  gratitude,  a  mere  trifle ;  but  if  we  consider  well  what 
it  betokens,  and  set  our  gratitude  to  work  to  gather  from  it  a 
treasure  of  divine  love,  this  treasure  shall  not  be  wanting. 


August  25. — "Be  thou  exalted,  0  God,  above  the  heavens,  and  thy 
glory  above  all  the  earth." — Psalm  cviii.  5. 

Whether  men  honor  him  or  not,  God  is  forever  infinitely 
honorable.  His  perfections  remain  the  same.  By  virtue  of 
his  divine  power  and  Godhead,  he  is  exalted  where  no  con- 

25 


290  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

ception  of  a  finite  being  can  follow  him,  mucli  less  add  any- 
thing to  or  take  anything  from  his  exaltedness.  But  when 
God  condescended  to  call  creation  into  existence,  it  was  for  the 
purpose  of  revealing  himself  unto  his  intelligent  subjects,  and 
setting  up  a  throne  in  the  heart  of  each  of  them. 

In  this  world,  men  are  in  a  state  of  revolt ;  they  have  cast 
down  the  throne  of  Grod  in  their  heart,  and  denied  their  obli- 
gation to  glorify  him.  They  are  bent  upon  their  own  exaltation, 
and  conceive  that  they  have  enough  to  do  to  accomplish  their 
own  glory,  without  attending  to  that  of  God.  We  have  all 
heard  of  the  Calendar  published  in  France  within  a  few 
years,  in  which  all  the  days  of  the  year  were  distributed  among 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  great  men,  who  in  their  several 
days  were  to  be  worshipped  by  men,  and  this  was  to  be  the 
only  worship.  But  those  who  thus  proclaim  man  to  be  the 
only  divine  being  known,  are  just  a  little  more  outspoken  than 
their  fellow-men.  For  he  who  sees  without  sorrow  and  solici- 
tude how  God  is  slighted  and  forgotten  in  the  world ;  he  who 
protests  not  against  the  ungodly  ways  of  men  -,  he  who  is  not 
intent  upon  knowing  the  perfections  of  God;  earnestly  and 
assiduously  studies  not  the  word;  knows  not  Christ  as  God 
manifest  in  the  flesh ;  prays  not,  labors  not,  that  God  by  his 
Spirit  may  be  enthroned  in  his  own  heart ;  he  is  one  of  those 
who  are  engaged  in  the  bold  and  absurd  attempt  to  dismiss 
God  and  put  man  in  his  place. 

Christians  are  a  little  company  who  say  from  the  heart,  as 
they  address  God,  "  Thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and 
the  glory,"  and  who  are  consecrated  to  the  great  work  of  re- 
storing to  God,  so  far  as  in  them  lies,  the  glory  that  is  due  to 
him.  Understand  then,  0  Christian,  thy  vocation.  Thou  art 
to  live  in  such  a  way,  that  all  thy  actions,  all  thy  deportment 
shall  give  expression  to  the  great  truth  that  God  is  on  the 
throne  of  the  universe,  that  He  alone  is  worthy  to  have  his 
will  done  by  all,  that  he  is  inefiably,  incomparably  glorious. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  291 

And  the  blaspliemous  extravagance  of  self-glorlj&cation  to  wliicli 
man  is  carried  at  the  present  day,  should  only  be  an  additional 
stimulus  to  the  Christian  to  exalt  Grod  by  humble  obedience, 
by  love  to  his  brethren,  by  the  prayer  of  faith,  by  self-denial 
and  watchfulness,  by  simplicity  of  life  and  of  speech,  by  com- 
municating the  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  by  wise,  loving,  and 
faithful  remonstrances  with  men,  upon  the  greatness  of  their 
error. 


August  26. — "  They  that  sow  in  tears  shall  reap  in  joy." — Psalm 
exxvi.  5. 

The  tears  of  those  that  sow,  flow  from  various  causes.  Here 
is  one  who  has  greatly  hungered  and  thirsted  after  the  com- 
munications of  God's  love ;  who  mourns  over  his  own  heart  of 
imbelief ;  over  his  inaptitude  for  the  things  of  God ;  who  has 
been  fascinated  by  the  conception  of  a  divine  life  to  be  led  on 
the  earth,  a  life  of  conscious  union  with  God  attended  by 
peace  flowing  like  a  river,  and  revealing  itself  by  ardent  love, 
cheerful  labor,  and  large  success.  But  the  very  conception  of 
the  thing  only  makes  his  actual  experience  more  inglorious 
and  more  insupportable.  Tears  are  his  meat  night  and  day. 
In  this  state,  how  can  it  be  expected  that  he  should  go  forth 
and  exhort  men  to  believe  on  Jesus ;  or  engage  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  tracts  setting  forth  the  preciousness  of  Christ  ?  Never- 
theless, he  does  it.  With  a  heart  breaking  for  the  longing  it 
hath,  he  tells  his  fellow-man  that  religion  is  the  one  thing 
needful ;  and  brushing  away  a  tear,  he  assures  them  that  the 
only  true  happiness  to  be  found  on  earth  is  to  be  found  in 
Christ.  And  in  this  there  is  no  insincerity.  For  his  deepest 
conviction  is  this :  that  there  is  no  joy  worthy  of  the  name 
save  that  which  Christ  gives  to  his  people.  He  does  not 
speak  from  present  experience,  but  from  faith. 

Here  is  another  who  trusted  on  the  Lord  that  He  would 


292  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

bear  testimony  to  the  word  of  His  grace;  but  many  a  long 
year  fulfils  the  ministry  of  this  word  without  any  such  testi- 
mony being  borne.  Another  is  keenly  sensitive  to  the  taunts 
and  reproaches  of  men,  and  the  harvest  of  these  is  the  only 
harvest  that  he  seems  to  gather.  Consider  Jeremiah  among 
the  Jews,  Brainerd  among  the  Indians,  and  a  thousand  others. 
Let  it  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  the  words  of  life  come 
with  most  power  from  an  afflicted  heart.  It  is  often  -well  that 
the  heart  should  have  had  experience  of  affliction.  But  the 
servant  of  Christ  should  not  be  content  till  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  which  is  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost,  be  fully  come  in  his'  heart.  G  od  meeteth  him  that  re- 
joiceth  and  worketh  righteousness;  and  the  command  to  re- 
joice in  the  Lord  is  a  command  that  must  be  obeyed.  Blessed 
is  he  that  mourneth :  why  ?  because  he  shall  be  comforted. 
This  mourning  must  pass  away,  and  then  the  blessedness  will 
appear  in  the  consolation. 


August  27. — "  Thanks  be  to  God  which  giveth  us  the  victory  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." — 1  Corinthians  xv.  57. 

"  Fear  not,  little  flock,  it  is  your  Father's  good  pleasure  to 
give  you  the  kingdom."  There  are  two  parties  in  this  world ; 
one  consisting  of  the  cross-bearers,  the  other  consisting  of  the 
unconverted.  In  numbers  the  former  are  very  few.  ^  If  we 
sift  the  nations  reputed  Christian,  correcting  our  own  concep- 
tions by  the  standard  of  Christ,  the  numbers  will  diminish 
faster  than  the  army  of  Gideon.  They  are  indeed  a  little 
flock.  It  may  be  that  they  do  not  exceed,  even  in  this  our 
day,  one  in  a  hundred  of  the  population  of  the  globe. 

They  were  once  fewer  than  they  now  are;  and  we  have  thus 
two  wonders;  one  that  they  have  succeeded  in  maintaining 
their  footing  upon  the  shore  of  this  world ;  another  that  they 
should  have  an  inviolable  promise  to  the  effect  that  they  will 


DxVILY    MEDITATIONS.  293 

actually  obtain  tlie  victory  and  sit  down  upon  the  vacated 
thrones  of  the  earth.  For  there  is  no  special  prowess  to  com- 
pensate for  the  paucity  of  their  number ;  there  are  no  advan- 
tages of  rank;  no  superiority  of  discipline.  The  world  thinks 
itself  able  to  crumple  them  up  as  a  piece  of  paper.  There  is 
no  obvious  reason  why  they  should  not  be  crushed  at  any  mo- 
ment. In  fact  the  world  has  often  trodden  them  under  its 
heel,  and  exclaimed  with  a  sense  of  relief,  "  There,  they  are 
gone;"  but  the  next  moment  they  were  found  springing  up 
again  in  some  quarter.  The  world  has  gained  ever  so  many 
overwhelming  victories  over  them;  and  is  exceedingly  pro- 
voked to  find  that  it  is  none  the  better  for  all  its  victories. 
The  Church  unbrokenly  lives  on. 

In  fact  what  seem  to  the  world  to  be  its  victories,  are  the 
victories  of  the  Church.  For  Christ's  people  are  fighting  the 
fight  of  faith.  They  have  no  weapons  of  their  own,  but  the 
stars  in  their  courses  fight  for  them.  When  persecuted  most, 
they  are  most  strong  in  faith ;  and  when  they  are  strong  in 
faith,  all  things  fight  for  them,  even  the  heavens  above  and 
the  earth  beneath. 


August  28. — "Thou,  Lord,  art  good,  and  ready  to  forgive." — Psalm 
Ixxxvi.  6. 

God's  commandment  is  good.  The  law  of  his  will  designates 
the  only  path  in  which  it  is  good  for  men  to  walk.  It  cannot 
be  that  God's  choice  should  be  otherwise  than  best.  But  man 
has  broken  God's  law,  and  discarded  God's  choice.  He  has 
left  the  path  that  infinite  goodness  appointed  to  him.  The 
question  now  arises.  How  can  it  be  good  in  God  to  forgive  man 
for  abandoning  that  path  ?  Is  it  becoming  to  let  man  obtain 
such  a  stupendous  victory,  and  proceeding  by  a  forbidden  path, 
possess  himself  of  the  very  good  that  God  placed  at  the  ter- 
minus of  the  pnth  of  obedience  ?     Is  the  arrogance  of  man 


294  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

gross  enough  to  aspire  to  such  a  success  as  this,  and  threw  such 
contempt  as  this  upon  the  law  of  Grod  ? 

What  then  ?  must  man  suffer  ?  Why  not,  rather  than  that 
man  should  enter  heaven  with  a  torn  law  of  God  for  his  ban- 
ner ?  The  welfare  of  the  entire  universe  hangs  by  the  ada- 
mantine chain  of  God's  authority ;  let  this  be  shattered,  and 
chaos  is  come  again. 

What  otherwise  could  never  have  been,  has  been  brought 
about  by  the  incarnation,  obedience,  and  death  of  the  Son  of 
God.  God  is  now  good  even  when  he  forgives.  All  his  per- 
fections rejoice  over  the  accepted  sinner. 

God  is  ready  to  forgive.  Let  us  act  upon  this  unimpeacha- 
ble truth.  Have  we  not  too  often  approached  God  as  though 
it  would  require  an  immense  deal  of  persuasion  to  induce  him 
to  forgive  us  ?  If  Christ  be  there,  there  is  no  reason  why  we 
should  not  expect  to  obtain  it  most  promptly  and  profusely ; 
for  there  is  something  more  accomplished  by  our  forgiveness 
than  the  mere  mitigation  of  our  inward  torment ;  there  is  the 
honor  bestowed  upon  Christ.  This  translates  the  matter  to  the 
very  court  of  heaven,  and  invests  it  with  more  than  archan- 
gelio  dignity.  God  is  ever  ready  to  honor  his  Son ;  he  is 
therefore  ever  ready  to  forgive  those  who  have  a  true  faith  in 
Christ. 


AuGtrsT  29. — "  Whether  therefore  ye  eat  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do, 
do  all  to  the  glory  of  God." — 1  Corinthians  x.  31. 

We  ought  to  be  much  affected  by  the  condescension  of  God. 
He  talks  to  us  as  to  angels.  What  more  could  he  say,  in  the 
way  of  commandment,  to  any  being,  than  he  here  says  to  us  ? 
It  is  evident  that  he  puts  us  in  the  first  rank  of  his  servants, 
lie  is  willing  to  overlook  the  fact  that  we  are  moral  cripples, 
S|)iritual  lepers.  He  does  not  thrust  us  down  into  an  inferior 
chamber  and  assiorn  to  us  some  base  work,  but  he  bids  us  do  the 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  295 

work  of  Raphael;  that  is,  to  show  forth  the  glory  of  God,  in 
all  our  acts  and  movements,  great  and  small. 

He  that  assigns  to  us  so  comprehensive  and  exalted  a 
function,  gives  grace  according  to  the  largeness  of  his  com- 
mand. 

The  will  of  God  does  not  relate  to  the  great  movements  of 
our  life,  passing  over  the  lesser.  He  does  not  say,  "  Arise,  go 
to  Joppa,"  and  then  leave  us  to  go  there  in  any  way  we  please. 
His  will  is  to  be  the  staple  of  our  existence,  and  to  go  with  us 
from  breath  to  breath  along  the  entire  journey  of  life.  Christ 
would  not  let  go  of  the  will  of  God  to  take  up  a  piece  of 
bread,  after  his  forty  days'  fast.  The  Christian  cannot  partake 
of  an  abundant  meal,  if  his  "  neighbor"  stand  hungering 
there;  or  if  some  pressing  duty  be  to  be  discharged.  No 
more  in  little  matters  than  in  great  does  he  presume  to  live 
unto  himself 

This  command  requires  us  to  be  ever  looking  unto  God; 
and  is  designed  to  establish  a  perpetual  commerce  between  our 
soul  and  him  who  loves  us.  People  think  this  will  hamper 
them;  whereas  it  is  just  the  being  invested  with  a  divine  life. 
As  well  Might  they  complain  of  being  compelled  to  wear  an 
emblem  of  royalty  on  the  brow. 


AuGUOT  30. — "  Though  I  walk  in  the  midst  of  trouble,  thou  wilt  revive 
me." — Psalm  cxxxviii.  7. 

Some  obtain  their  experience  early,  others  later,  but  it  seems 
that  all  who  live  long  in  this  world  must  learn  by  experience 
the  bitter  truth  that  the  elements  of  trouble  are  very  numerous 
in  this  stage  of  man's  existence.  The  youthful  heart,  taught 
of  God  to  desire  happiness,  takes  counsel  of  its  imagination 
how  to  seek  it,  and  delights  itself  with  dreams  of  earthly  bliss 
which  must  soon  be  dispelled.  Very  often  it  gets  angry  with 
God  for  not  ec|ualing  the  creations  of  its  own  imagination,  for 
allowing  his  divine  power  to  be  surpassed  by  the  poor  concep- 


296  DAILY    .AIEDITATIOXS. 

tion  of  a  mortal ;  not  considering  that  this  is  a  world  of  trouble, 
becaus'e  it  is  a  world  of  sin.  These  disappointments  in  too 
many  cases  deaden  the  heart ;  destroy  its  poetry,  its  enthusi- 
asm, its  sensibility.  But  they  that  go  with  all  their  hopes  and 
aspirations  to  God,  and  seek  in  him  what  the  world  cannot 
give,  their  hearts  shall  live.  Wonderful  it  is  to  see  in  the 
Christian  of  threescore  years,  all  the  sensibility  and  enthusi- 
asm, the  freshness,  and  glow  of  youth.  And  yet  it  is  no  won- 
der, for  the  paradise  he  looks  at,  is  in  the  skies,  and  is  every 
day  drawing  nearer  and  becoming  more  glorious  to  the  sight. 
His  feelings  partake  of  the  nature  of  the  immortal  realms 
which  he  contemplates  and  seeks. 


August  .31. — "The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say,  Come,  And  let  him  that 
heareth  say,  Come." — Revelation  xxii.  7. 

To  whom  is  the  invocation  addressed  ?  To  Jesus  or  to  the 
sinner  ?  If  we  connect  the  words  with  those  that  go  before, 
it  appears  to  be  the  Saviour  that  is  invoked :  if  with  what 
comes  after,  the  invitation  is  to  the  sinner;  "  Let  him  that  is 
athirst,  come."  But  we  need  not  adopt  either  view  t^  the  ex- 
clusion of  the  other.  For  he  who  with  all  cordiality  says, 
'•  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly,"  cannot  be  otherwise  than 
greatly  concerned  to  see  his  kingdom  extended  in  the  world. 
He  will  best  show  his  solicitude  for  the  coming  of  Christ,  by 
laboring  to  induce  men  to  come  and  take  of  the  water  of  life. 

"  Let  him  that  heareth  say.  Come."  Thou  hearest,  thou 
hast  long  heard  the  Gospel.  Thou  art  ever  found  in  thy  place 
in  the  congregation  of  the  people  of  God,  hearkening  dili- 
gently unto  the  words  of  life.  In  this  and  in  that  gathering 
we  meet  thee,  and  thou  art  ever  attentive  to  the  exposition  of 
God's  word.  Thou  art  interested  in  the  various  religious  topics 
that  are  brought  under  discussion ;  and  everything  that  prom- 
ises to  render  thee  more  spiritual,  more  believing,  more  joyful 


DAII^Y   MEDITATIONS.  297 

in  Clirist  is  welcome  to  thee.  But  pardon  me  if  I  suggest 
that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  being  religiously  luxurious.  Ee- 
member  what  world  thou  art  placed  in.  The  question  is  not, 
what  kind  of  piety  might  be  appropriate  to  some  Elysian  plain, 
where  all  is  odoriferous  of  heaven,  and  significant  of  triumph; 
but  it  is  this,  what  kind  of  piety  is  most  suited  to  thee  in  thy 
present  condition  ?  Thou  art  in  this  world  to  utter  the  invita- 
tions of  Grod  to  fallen  man.  Thou  hdit  a  ministry,  and  it  is 
to  say  the  word  "  Come,"  in  such  tones  as  may  be  best  adapted 
to  draw  the  attention  of  men  to  the  proffered  mercy  of  God. 
Kejoice  that  in  the  benignant  providence  of  God  you  are  in 
these  latter  days  furnished  with  so  many  facilities  for  extending 
the  invitations  of  the  Gospel  to  your  fellow-men.  He  that 
gives  to  Tract  and  Bible  and  Missionary  Societies,  that  gives 
in  faith  and  simplicity  and  at  some  personal  cost,  he  in  his 
measure  is  saying  to  his  fellow-men,  "  Come."  But  surely 
these  agencies  were  not  raised  up  by  God  in  order  that  the 
main  body  of  Christians  might  get  easily  off  from  the  ministry 
of  invitation  assigned  them. 

Let  every  one  who  saith  "  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly," 
see  to  it  that  his  whole  life  be  an  enunciation  of  the  Gospel, 
his  whole  being  transfused  with  the  spirit  of  invitation ;  and 
that  there  be  in  his  looks,  words,  acts,  manners,  way  of  life, 
nothing  but  that  which  shall  tend  to  make  Christ  attractive  to 
his  fellow-men. 

The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say.  Come.  We  are  the  bride  of 
Christ,  and  with  us  is  the  Spirit,  if  we  earnestly  and  lovingly  de- 
sire the  coming  of  Christ,  wrestle  with  Christ  to  set  up  his 
kingdom  in  the  hearts  of  men,  and  with  men  to  come  to  Christ. 
Let  the  bride  in  this  way  make  herself  ready. 


298  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

September  1. — "  Yet  a  little  while,  and  he  that  shall  come  will  come, 
and  will  not  tarry." — Hebrews  x.  37. 

Among  many  tliat  profess  to  be  the  people  of  Grod,  we  find 
one  (scarcely  one  in  a  thousand)  whose  manner  of  life  seems 
to  express  his  conviction  that  the  time  is  short,  very  short. 
He  is  like  one  who  waking  from  slumber  finds  that  his  barque 
has  drifted  within  the  influence  of  currents  that  are  hurrying 
her  fast  towards  the  rapids,  fast  to  destruction,  and  perceives 
in  a  glance  that  whatever  is  to  be  done  is  to  be  done  at  once, 
and  done  with  all  might.  The  accumulated  business  of  life, 
so  long  lost  sight  of,  is  to  be  despatched  with  all  possible  expe- 
dition. The  talents  so  long  buried  are  to  be  dug  up  and  got 
into  circulation  at  once,  that  there  may  be  a  respectable  return 
to  exhibit  when  the  Master  comes, — who  knows  how  soon  ?  En- 
ergy, circumspection,  perseverance,  in  fine  the  consecration  of 
all  the  powers,  must  compensate  so  far  as  may  be  for  the  im- 
mense treasures  of  time  that  have  been  squandered.  "  He 
Cometh,  he  cometh,'^  is  the  motto  of  such  a  one.  Other  men, 
other  Christians  even,  look  on  with  astonishment,  and  fancy 
that  the  man  must  be  beside  himself  to  labor  so  vehemently. 
They  bid  him  check  his  great  zeal  and  mingle  moderation  with 
his  earnestness.  But  he  replies,  "  One  thing  I  do.  The  past 
time  of  my  life  must  suffice  for  apathy  and  self-indulgence. 
The  Master  whose  service  I  have  too  long  neglected,  cometh 
quickly.  He  hath  ordained  me  that  I  should  bring  forth 
fruit,  and  I  must  make  the  most  of  the  brief  season  that  re- 
mains." 

A  little  while !  A  great  work  !  The  views  of  many  Chris- 
tians are  very  defective  with  respect  to  both  of  these  facts. 
"  Our  Lord  delayeth  his  coming,"  seems  to  be  the  impression 
on  their  minds.  Their  energies,  their  earnestness,  their  self- 
denial,  their  consecration,  are  exhibited  in  efforts  that  have  no 
reference  to  the  deliverance  of  their  souls  from  baneful  in- 
fluences.    The  work  of  religion  is  one  which  is  easily  disposed 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  299 

of,  they  imagine,  in  an  occasional  hour,  in  the  leisure  moments 
which  the  greater  business  of  life  is  generous  enough  to  grant. 
Is  there  not  coming  an  hour  when  the  sign  of  the  Son  of 
Man  having  appeared  in  heaven,  all  mankind  will  become 
aware  that  the  sun  of  their  probation  is  just  about  to  sink  for- 
ever, the  Sun  of  Righteousness  just  about  to  rise  in  glory  un- 
conceived ;  and  when  the  possessors  of  the  Gospel  who  have 
left  undone  their  Master's  bidding,  will  be  filled  with  terror 
and  confusion  at  the  thought  of  the  immense  work  committed 
to  them,  and  to  which  they  had  hardly  put  their  finger ;  while 
they  that  knew  he  would  not  tarry,  shall  lift  up  their  head, 
knowing  that  their  redemption  draweth  nigh.  Which  of  us 
shall  be  able  to  stand  ? 


September  2. — "Lead  us  not  into  temptation." — Matthew  vi.  13. 

If  you  ask  me  to  show  you  a  wise  man,  I  will  ask  you  to 
find  for  me  a  man  who,  morning,  noon,  and  night,  ofi'ereth  to 
Grod  this  prayer.  You  find  him,  and  you  say  to  me,  "  Why, 
this  is  a  poor  man,  a  mean  man,  an  ignorant  man,  an  obscure 
man ;  I  asked  him  some  ordinary  questions,  and  he  could  not 
answer  them.  In  his  hand  was  a  book,  and  he  told  me  frankly 
that  having  no  wisdom  of  his  own,  he  was  obliged  to  make  use 
of  that  book.  And  yet  you  tell  me  he  is  the  wisest  of  men. 
His  wisdom  multiplied  ten  thousand  times  would  not  equal  the 
wisdom  of  some  that  are  known  to  me."  To  this  I  rejoin : 
Your  wise  man  and  mine  are  alike  in  one  respect.  They  are 
exposed  to  a  common  danger.  They  have  an  enemy  whose 
power  enables  him  to  laugh  at  all  the  wisdom  of  man,  and 
whose  malignity  will  bring  everlasting  ruin  upon  those  whom 
he  subjugates.  Woe  then  to  him  who  is  foolish  enough  to 
trust  in  any  wisdom  of  his  own.  He  is  daily  led  into  tempta- 
tion without  knowing  it,  and  daily  succumbs ;  and  day  by  day 
the  fetters  of  the  enemy  are  more  strongly  riveted  upon  him. 


300  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

No  man  was  ever  so  far  advanced  in  the  divine  life,  as  not  to 
need  to  utter  these  words.  In  fact  the  holiest  breathe  this 
petition  with  the  most  frequency.  And  if  an  angel  should  be 
sent  from  heaven  into  the  midst  of  us,  it  would  be  ever  upon 
his  lips. 

"  This  is  a  world  of  temptation,  and  it  would  be  difficult  so  to 
dispose  of  ourselves  as  never  to  encounter  temptation."  True  : 
and  many  advantages  flow  to  the  Christian  from  the  fact  that 
he  is  exposed  to  temptation.  His  graces  are  thus  strengthened. 
His  self-knowledge  is  increased.  He  relies  more  implicitly 
upon  the  word  of  Grod.  But  the  tempter  knows  how  to  com- 
bine circumstances,  and  so  to  adapt  his  wiles  to  the  spiritual 
state  of  a  man,  as  at  times  to  bring  an  unexpected  and  powerful 
temptation  to  bear  upon  him.  With  reference  to  such  tempta- 
tions as  these  the  Christian  offers  up  this  prayer.  God  gives 
a  man  the  shield  of  faith  and  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  with  re- 
gard to  ordinary  temptations,  those  that  he  is  already  familiar 
with ;  and  gives  him  a  spirit  of  prayer  with  regard  to  others, 
from  which  in  answer  to  this  prayer,  he  delivers  him.  There 
is  one  way  of  dealing  with  present  temptations,  and  another 
way  of  dealing  with  those  that  are  future.  If,  relying  on  our 
strength  of  faith,  we  cease  to  be  apprehensive  of  new  and  sub- 
tle arrangements  by  which  our  affections  may  become  en- 
tangled, we  are  almost  certain  to  sustain  damage. 

If  after  all  it  pleases  God  to  bring  the  petitioner  into  temp- 
tation, he  is  not  brought  into  it  as  other  men  are.  God  will 
indicate,  in  the  trying  hour,  the  way  of  escape. 


September  3. — "If  any  man  draw  back,  my  soul  shall  have  no  pleasure 
in  him." — Hebrews  x.  38. 

God  taketh  pleasure  in  them  that  fear  him,  and  who  mani- 
fest their  fear  to  displease  him  by  constantly  and  carefully 
pressing  forward  in  that  good  path  which  he  has  opened  up  to 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  301 

them.  When  a  man  is  pressing  forward  in  the  path  of  God, 
all  heaven  and  earth  rejoice,  reflecting  the  joy  of  God.  The 
sun  shines  not  in  vain  for  him ;  it  lights  him  along  the  path- 
way of  holiness.  The  earth  is  encouraged  to  run  cheerfully 
her  race  of  a  thousand  miles  a  minute. 

The  Bible  lives  with  reference  to  such  a  soul.  Its  com- 
mands, its  promises,  its  invitations,  all  its  words  are  clothed 
with  their  proper  majesty,  and  bring  to  bear  the  influences  of 
omnipotence  upon  this  soul.  .  But  it  is  sad  when  such  a  soul 
in  some  evil  day  begins  to  slacken  its  energies ;  sadder  still 
when  it  quite  ceases  to  press  forward ;  but  oh  how  melancholy 
the  spectacle  when  it  actually  begins  to  go  back.  The  sun  has 
his  mission,  and  he  continues  to  shine;  and  the  earth  too 
sweeps  on  in  her  orbit;  the  time  has  not  come  for  the  dis- 
pleasure of  God  to  enunciate  itself;  but  it  is  none  the  less  stern 
and  terrible  for  its  present  silence. 

You  have  come  and  looked  upon  the  suffering  Son  of  God. 
You  have  taken  note  of  his  dignity;  of  his  humiliation;  of  his 
purity ;  of  his  death ;  of  his  perfect  ability  and  fitness  to  save. 
You  have  looked  into  the  lake  which  burneth  with  fire  and 
brimstone;  you  have  beheld  the  tree  of  life  in  the  midst  of  the 
paradise  of  God ;  you  have  seen  a  Lamb  in  the  midst  of  the 
throne  as  it  had  been  slain;  you  have  tasted  of  the  manifold 
banquet  of  the  word  of  God,  and  have  had  experience  of  the 
powers  of  the  world  to  come ;  and  after  all,  you  conclude  to  go 
back.  It  appears  now,  that  while  you  suffered  yourself  to  be 
drawn  to  Christ,  to  be  drawn  by  the  cords  of  the  gospel  far  on 
your  way  to  him,  there  was  all  the  time  a  forgotten  cord  at- 
taching you  to  the  world.  Your  chains  seemed  to  be  all  sev- 
ered by  the  mighty  love  of  Christ ;  but  your  former  master 
spun  one  of  these  chains  to  an  invisible  cord  of  immense  ex- 
tent, and  you  were  not  allowed  to  feel  that  there  was  any  such 
cord  until  you  had  accomplished  a  large  part  of  your  journey 
to  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Your  master  watched  his  time ; 
26 


302  DAILY    2IEDITATI0XS. 

and  at  length  availed  himself  of  the  hold  he  still  had  upon  you, 
and  drew  you  backward.  Many  were  astonished ;  for  they  had 
never  perceived  that  very  minute  and  long-drawn  bond.  "^ 


September  4. — "  Call  unto  me  and  I  will  answer  thee,  and  show  thee 
great  and  mighty  things  which  thou  knowest  not." — Jeremiah  xxxiii.  3. 

Grreat  and  mighty  things  had  been  shown  unto  Jeremiah. 
Great  discoveries  of  the  glory  of  God  had  been  permitted  him. 
He  had  walked  with  G-od  on  most  intimate  terms.  He  had 
experience  of  the  power  of  God  to  render  him  as  a  brazen 
column  in  the  midst  of  hostile  Jerusalem,  and  to  sustain  him 
in  his  most  trying  ministry.  G^od  also  had  shown  him  the 
great  and  mighty  things  of  his  wrath  that  he  intended  to  bring 
to  pass  upon  Judea,  and  upon-  the  nations  round  about.  Yet 
Jeremiah  was  not*  to  rest  satisfied.  His  business  was  to  obtain 
the  utmost  measure  of  divine  communication.  He  was  now  in 
the  court  of  the  prison.  ll«  is  told  to  pray  for  great  things. 
Another  would  have  thought  first  of  his  own  deliverance.  But 
the  great  and  mighty  things  which  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  be- 
stow and  Jeremiah  to  receive,  related  to  the  deliverance  of  the 
people  of  God  from  their  future  captivity,  and  the  restoration 
of  God's  goodness  to  them. 

We  may  learn  from  this,  not  to  rest  satisfied  with  any  com- 
munications of  God's  grace  that,  we  have  received,  but  to 
cherish  a  spirit  of  expectation  and  desire.  The  best  evidence 
that  we  value  what  we  have  received,  is  when  it  has  enkindled 
our  aspirations  for  what  is  yet  beyond.  Eor^ou  observe  that 
God  requires  to  be  asked  for  the  great  and  mighty  things  of 
his  grace,  before  he  bestows  them.  And  if  the  path  of  duty 
take  you  to  the  court  of  the  prison,  you  may,  like  Jeremiah, 
find  communications  such  as  were  not  made  in  the  temple  even. 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  303 

September  5. — "The  Lord  will  not  cast  off  forever." — Lam.  iii.  31. 

From  the  context,  the  meaning  is  evident.  He  casts  off  his 
people  from  certain  experiences  of  his  love  of  which  they  have 
shown  themselves  unworthy,  until  they  are  humbled  and  peni- 
tent, fervent  and  believing.  God  does  not  arbitrarily  resume 
his  benefits.  There  is  ever  an  adequate  reason,  and  if  we 
search  the  records  of  our  experience,  we  shall  find  it.  We 
should  very  carefully  note  what  it  was  in  our  conduct,  what 
remissness  or  sluggishness  or  waywardness  or  worldliness, 
that  caused  the  Spirit  of  Grod  to  cease  from  shedding  abroad 
the  love  of  God  in  our  heart ;  and  when  we  have  been  re- 
stored, we  should  be  careful  not  again  to  grieve  him.  Happy 
are  they  to  whom  it  is  given  to  know  that  they  are  not  finally 
cast  off.  Their  contrition,  their  humiliation,  their  ardent 
longing  of  soul,  are  the  best  evidences  that  they  are  not. 


September  6. — "And  I  will  put  my  Spirit  within  you,  and  cause  you 
to  walk  in  my  statutes."^ — Ezekiel  xxsvi.  27. 

A  sublime  expression  of  sovereignty;  but  let  none  therefore 
say,  "  We  must  remain  as  we  are  until  he  puts  his  Spirit  within 
us."  For  God  observes  a  process  in  this  as  in  his  other 
works  ]  and  in  every  step  of  this  process  he  requires  the  co- 
operation of  man.  He  shows  an  individual  that  he  is  without 
the  Spirit  of  God ;  that  he  is  spiritually  dead ;  excites  in  him 
desires  after  life  and  blessedness ;  shows  him  what  he  is  not  to 
trust  in ;  what  he  is  to  trust  in ;  teaches  him  to  pray ;  answers 
his  prayer ;  and  excites  in  him  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus.  Then 
only  perhaps  does  an  individual  discover  that  he  has  been  in- 
fluenced throughout  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  he  who  refuses 
to  do  anything  until  he  is  sensible  of  the  Spirit's  influences, 
will  never  do  anything  in  the  way  of  working  out  his  salvation. 


304  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

September  7. — "Thou,  0  Lord,  remainest  forever;  thy  throne  from 
generation  to  generation." — Lamentations  v.  19. 

The  instability  of  many  of  the  things  with  which  we  have 
to  do  in  this  world,  only  tends  to  make  the  believer  appreciate 
the  more,  by  contrast,  the  immutability  of  his  Grod.  The 
Lord  of  all  sits  upon  his  throne,  and  before  him  the  universe 
passes  like  a  panorama.  He  is  unchangeable  in  character  as 
well  as  in  sovereignty.  As  we  follow  the  indications  of  ge- 
ology into  the  dim  chambers  of  what  seems  to  be  a  past  eter- 
nity, it  is  a  comfort  to  think  there  was  then  the  same  God  that 
we  now  know ;  presiding  over  the  strange  processes  of  those 
tirnes  with  the  same  wisdom  and  power  that  now  dwell  in 
him ;  have  the  same  boundless  love  that  has  been  so  marvel- 
lously exhibited  in  our  dispensation ;  the  very  same  Being  in 
fact  who  became  incarnate  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ,  spoke 
graciously  to  man  and  made  an  atonement  for  the  sins  of  men. 
Too  often  the  idea  of  immutability  is  connected  in  the  minds 
of  men  with  that  of  insensibility.  But  this  is  an  error. 
There  is  but  one  immutable  Being  in  the  universe,  and  his 
name  is  LOYE. 

Clouds  and  darkness  are  around  about  the  throne  of  Grod,  so 
that  men  see  not  that  throne,  and  remain  voluntarily  ignorant 
of  its  existence.  The  thrones  of  this  world  are  alone  visible  to 
them.  To  know  what  monarchies  they  stand  in  awe  of,  we 
have  only  to  ascertain  from  their  conduct  whose  commands 
they  obey,  whose  will  they  execute.  We  find  that  they  are 
influenced  by  mandates  that  come  not  from  the  throne  of  God. 
But  all  these  inferior  thrones  and  dominions  vanish  away. 
How  many  have  come  and  gone  since  the  prophet  wrote  these 
words.  And  as  the  others  have  passed  away,  so  those  that 
now  exist  must  disappear  from  earth.  That  government  that 
has  in  it  the  elements  of  perfect  stability,  man  has  not  suc- 
ceeded nor  will  succeed  in  devising;. 

Thou,  0  Lord,  remainest  forever :  to  whom  then  shall  we 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  305 

go,  but  to  tliee  ?  Our  immortal  souls  awakened  by  tby  Spirit, 
find  themselves  in  the  midst  of  a  creation  that  crumbles  at  the 
touch,  and  are  filled  "with  consternation  as  they  behold  them- 
selves cast  upon  the  billows  of  a  world  that  has  no  one  element 
of  immortality  to  which  they  can  ally  themselves,  nothing  akin 
to  themselves  to  afibrd  them  a  hope  of  companionship  in  the 
day  when  all  beside  shall  have  dissolved.  We  flee  to  thee,  0 
Lord,  and  find  in  thee  a  thousand  times  more  than  even  the 
permanency  of  present  things  would  have  yielded  us. 

What  gives  the  unchangeableness  of  Grod  such  a  value  in 
our  eyes  is  that  we  may  take  refuge  in  him  and  be  made  like 
unto  him.  When  we  shall  have  been  made  perfect  in  love, 
we  shall  be  able  to  look  from  the  calm  heights  of  an  inviolate 
safety,  upon  the  elements  of  change  and  destruction. 


September  8. — "  I  will  take  away  the  stony  heart  out  of  your  flesh,  and 
I  will  give  you  a  heart  of  flesh." — Ezekiel  xxxvi.  26. 

This  stony  heart  is  not  what  is  commonly  understood  by  a 
hard  heart,  an  unfeeling  heart.  A  person  of  a  gentle  tender 
yielding  disposition  may  yet  have  what  God  regards  as  a  stony 
heart.  A  heart  insensible  to  the  word  of  God  is  what  is  here 
spoken  of  The  commands,  the  promises,  the  invitations  all 
fail  to  make  an  impression  upon  one  with  such  a  heart ;  he 
j-efuses  to  see  his  sin,  his  helplessness,  his  danger,  his  need,  the 
holiness,  the  grace,  the  love  of  God.  The  mighty  and  count- 
less motives  of  the  Bible  are  lost  upon  him.  He  perhaps 
flatters  himself  that  he  has  a  great  deal  of  sensibility.  He 
weeps  at  a  tale  of  distress ;  and  the  more  fictitious  it  is,  the 
more  he  weeps.  He  perhaps  is  religious,  in  his  own  and  others' 
estimation.  Israel,  of  whose  stony  heart  the  text  primarily 
speaks,  was  exceedingly  devout  and  imagined  itself  blamelei>s 
in  all  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord. 

In  the  physical  system  of  man  the  heart'  sometimes  ossifies. 
26  * 


306  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

The  most  fearful  and  also  the  most  shameful  condition  into 
which  a  moral  being  can  fall,  the  lowest  depth  that  he  can 
reach,  is  that  in  which  his  heart  becomes  unable  to  distinguish 
the  voice  of  God.  Around  him  are  ten  thousand  utterances ; 
an  angel  would  be  ravished  with  the  harmony :  all  the  day 
long  in  one  way  or  in  another,  God  speaks ;  but  he  hears  not. 
What  an  expanse  of  promise  there  is  in  this  one  word  / 
iciU  give  you  a  heart  of  flesh.  You  will  sail  over  it  long  and 
find  no  limits.  All  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit,  all  Christian  graces 
with  all  their  manifestations,  all  triumphs  of  faith,  are  com- 
prehended in  it.  .  When  this  promise  is  verified,  immediately 
the  entire  word  of  God  puts  on  its  appropriate  power.  From 
Genesis  to  Revelation,  everything  starts  into  life.  In  giving 
us  the  heart  of  flesh,  God  gives  us  everything  that  he  has 
made.  The  heavens  begin  to  tell  us  his  glory,  and  the  firma- 
ment to  show  us  his  handiwork ;  the  lily  addresses  our  faith 
and  the  wind  whispers  of  the  Spirit;  and  we  look  upon  all 
things  as  made  by  Him  and  for  him  and  for  us  who  believe  in 
him. 


September  9. — "In  a  little  wrath  I  hid  my  face  from  thee  for  a  mo- 
ment ;  but  with  everlasting  kindness  will  I  have  mercy  on  thee." — Isaiah 
liv.  8. 

If  God  withholds  from  us  the  tokens  of  his  love,  an  ex- 
planation may  almost  always  be  found  in  the  fact  that  we  had 
made  light  of  them  in  some  way  or  another.  God  gives  his 
love  unto  us  that  he  may  draw  us  by  its  sweet  influences  to 
renounce  evil  and  to  embrace  good.  If  we  receive  the  ex- 
pressions of  his  loving-kindness  and  manifest  no  corresponding 
readiness  to  forsake  sin,  then  it  becomes  needful  that  we  should 
take  lessons  in  the  value  and  virtue  of  his  love,  through  the 
privation  of  it. 

There  is  amazing  condescension  in  this  language.  The  Lord 
as  it  were  apologizes  to  his  people.     It  is  but  a  little  wrath  ;   I 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  307 

hid  my  face  for  a  moment  only ;  I  will  make  it  up  to  you  a 
millionfold  with  everlasting  kindness. 

We  can  imagine  a  certain  believer  replying ;  "  Thou  doest 
all  things  well ;  and  after  what  thou  hast  already  shown  of 
thy  wisdom  and  love,  thou  canst  well  be  trusted  with  the  gov- 
ernment of  thy  people.  Still  blame  me  not,  if  I  urge  that 
thy  wrath  is  something  so  fearful,  so  unendurable,  that  a  little 
of  it,  even  a  grain  of  mustard  seed  of  it,  is  to  our  feelings 
something  altogether  tremendous  and  mountainous.  If  thou 
pour  out  thy  wrath  upon  those  that  know  thee  not,  they  may 
indeed  pine  for  the  loss  of  this  and  that  temporal  blessing,  but 
the  thought  of  thy  anger  gives  them  not  a  moment's  unhappi- 
ness.  But  thy  love  is  our  life,  nay,  a  thousand  times  more 
than  life ;  it  is  that  which  raises  life  to  an  infinite  value ;  and 
the  loss  of  it  reduces  life  to  an  infinite  evil.  Far  be  it  ever 
from  thee.  Lord,  to  give  us  to  taste  of  thy  unmixed  wrath. 
If  it  be  needful  that  we  should  experience  a  little  wrath,  let 
there  be  much  love  mixed  with  it.  Let  us  not  be  bereft  of 
the  promises.  Let  us  see  the  light  shining  at  the  extremity 
of  the  dark  passage  that  we  have  to  thread.  Treat  us  not  as 
though  we  were  so  insensible  to  thy  love  that  a  large  privation 
of  it  could  be  easily  borne. 

The  language  of  the  text  will  have  a  difierent  meaning  to 
different  believers.  Some  have  been  permitted  to  experience 
such  marvellous  discoveries  of  the  grace  of  God,  they  have 
been  brought  into  such  secrets  of  the  divine  favor,  that  the 
privation  which  seems  to  them  utterly  insupportable,  would 
not  aff"ect  another  in  the  least. 


September  19. — "Hear,  and  your  soul  shall  live." — Isaiah  Iv.  3. 

The  true  life  of  the  soul  is  in  union  with  God.  The  souls 
of  men  are  dead,  because  they  are  separated  from  God.  Each 
man  walketh  apart,  liveth  unto  himself,  cleaveth  to  the  earth ; 


308  DAILY    MEDITATIOXS. 

he  calls  it  solitude  when  his  fellow-men  are  not  there.  The* 
word  of  God  is  life-giving.  We  have  not  to  go  to  a  distant 
planet  for  the  bread  of  life.  "Without  any  movement  of  ours, 
it  has  already  been  introduced  into  this  world.  We  have  not 
to  pay  for  the  liberty  to  appropriate  it.  All  the  price  required 
has  been  already  paid.  We  have  only  to  hear.  If  we  hear, 
our  souls  shall  live.  If  we  hear  not,  then  life  and  immortality 
shall  never  be  their  portion. 

Hear  the  word  of  life.  All  the  days  of  your  life,  you  have 
heard  it  with  your  outward  ear,  but  it  has  never  made  its  way 
to  your  inmost  soul.  The  adversary  that  has  such  dominion 
over  you  has  lined  the  passage  betwixt  your  outward  ear  and 
your  inmost  soul  with  gins  and  traps,  so  that  the  word  may 
not  travel  in  safety.  We  see  hundreds  of  chariot  loads  of 
precious  truth  go  in  at  the  portal  of  your  ear ;  but  it  is  too 
manifest  that  none  of  it  reaches  the  place  of  power  in  your 
mind. 

Hear  !  Enter  into  conflict  with  your  adversary  for  the  pos- 
session of  this  truth.  It  is  your  life,  therefore  embrace  it  with 
the  instinct  of  self-preservation.  Let  everything  else  go,  in 
laying  hold  of  this.  There  was  a  man  who,  after  many  years 
of  labor,  was  returning  from  California  with  a  number  of  bags 
of  most  fine  gold.  The  steamer  was  wrecked,  and  finding 
himself  in  the  water  with  his  bags,  he  let  them  all  go  that  he 
might  seize  an  old  plank  that  came  floating  along.  He  es- 
caped with  his  life  and  without  his  bags.  I  am  afraid  that  he 
never  was  quite  reconciled  to  the  loss  of  his  bags.  Suppose, 
however,  that  what  seemed  an  old  rotten  plank,  should  turn 
out  to  have  an  inscription  on  it,  guiding  him  to  a  treasure  a 
thousand  times  greater  than  what  he  had  cast  away.  In  t\iv,t 
case  he  never  would  give  another  thought  to  what  he  had  re- 
linquished, unless  it  were  a  thought  of  self-congratulation  that 
he  had  made  such  a  wonderful  exchange. 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  809 

September  11. — ""Wherefore  the  rather,  brethren,  give  diligence  to  make 
jour  calling  and  election  sure." — 2  Peter  i.  10. 

The  context  slieds  all  the  light  that  we  need  upon  this  pas- 
sage, explaining  both  the  nature  of  the  diligence  that  we  are 
to  use,  and  the  object  to  be  obtained  by  it.  "If  ye  do  these 
things,  ye  shall  never  fall."  The  things  are  mentioned  be- 
fore :  "  Giving  all  diligence,  add  to  your  faith,  virtue ;  and  to 
virtue,  knowledge ;  and  to  knowledge,  temperance  f  &c.  The 
words  "  shall  never  fall"  have  an  immediate  reference  to  the 
words  "  to  make  sure."  Let  no  one  bring  in  here  his  theory 
of  election  to  destroy  the  force  of  this  passage.  God  has  his 
elect  ones )  and  he  accomplishes  his  purposes  with  regard  to 
them  by  teaching  them  to  take  heed  lest  they  fall,  and  to  use 
all  diligence  in  making  their  calling  and  election  sure.  They 
that  despise  these  admonitions  make  it  certain  that  they  are 
not  elected. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  after  an  individual  believes  on 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  he  must  wait  a  good  while  and  make 
great  progress  in  holiness,  before  he  can  make  his  calling  and 
election  sure.  There  is  no  reason  why  he  should  not  have  as- 
surance of  faith  at  the  moment  when  he  first  looks  to  Christ 
for  salvation.  He  that  thirsting  comes  to  Christ  and  drinks, 
may  with  absolute  confidence  conclude  that  his  name  is  writ- 
ten in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life.  But  that  which  makes  his 
calling  and  election  sure  then,  will  not  suffice  to  make  it  sure 
in  days  that  follow.  There  must  be  growth  in  grace  ^  and 
there  must  be  expanding  evidence.  The  soul  must  keep  add- 
ing to  its  spiritual  stores ;  must  show  that  it  has  commerce 
with  the  skies.  It  can  no  more  derive  assurance  from  past 
experience  than  it  can  derive  life  from  it. 

In  an  important  sense,  salvation  is  neither  a  past  thing  nor 
a  future  thing ;  but  strictly  a  present  thing.  If  Christ  is  my 
Saviour,  then  he  is  saving  me  to-day.  If  he  is  my  Shepherd, 
then  he  is  leading  me  to-day.     If  he  is  my  Lord,  then  he  is 


310       ■  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

ruling  me  to-day.  To-day  lie  teaches  me,  warns  me,  encourages 
me,  blesses  me,  intercedes  for  me,  brings  me  to  God,  destroys 
tlie  works  of  the  devil. 


September  12. — '^  The  Lord  hath  comforted  his  people,  and  will  have 
mercy  upon  his  afflicted." — Isaiah  xlix.  13. 

Perhaps  throughout  the  wide  domains  of  Grod,  there  is 
hardly  any  sight  more  remarkable  than  that  presented  by  the 
little  flock  of  believers  who,  in  this  world  of  iniquity  and  of 
misery  where  Satan's  seat  is,  regard  the  Lord  as  their  King 
and  are  kept  by  him  through  faith  unto  salvation.  Their  ex- 
istence is  a  marvel;  their  peace  and  joy  another;  their  tri- 
umphs another.  They  are  without  a  visible  Leader,  and  have 
no  visible  Comforter ;  yet  they  pursue  their  way  and  have  an 
invincible  hope. 

The  Lord  comforts  his  people,  ordinarily,  not  by  changing 
the  course  of  his  providence,  not  by  crowning  them  with  an 
outward  prosperity,  but  by  opening  their  heart  to  attend  unto 
the  precious  declarations  of  his  word.  The  Spirit  is  the  Com- 
forter, and  he  is  the  Spirit  of  truth.  Christ  prayed  that  the 
cup  might  be  taken  away  from  him ;  but  afterward  we  hear 
him  saying,  "  The  cup  which  my  Father  hath  given  me,  shall 
I  not  drink  it  ?"  The  Father  answered  his  prayer  by  some 
inward  memorial  of  his  goodness,  and  the  cup  just  now  so 
dreadful  is  taken  cheerfully  and  with  unfaltering  hand  by  the 
Saviour.  When  the  soul  is  in  some  deep  distress  it  imagines 
that  nothing  less  than  the  removal  of  the  very  cause  of  the 
distress  will  ever  comfort  it;  but  God  prefers  to  show  his 
power  to  sustain  and  bless  the  soul  in  the  midst  of  the  trying 
providence.  He  is  glorified  when  the  believer  is  delivered 
from  his  gloom  without  being  delivered  from  that  which  caused 
the  gloom.     This  finds  itself  vanquished  when  it  seems  to  be 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  811 

most  triumphant;  and  is  utterly  at  a  loss  to  understand  how 
its  instruments  of  torture  should  produce  no  longer  any  pain. 


September  13. — "Make  thy  way  straight  before  my  face." — Psalm  v.  8. 

It  is  especially  when  a  feeling  has  taken  possession  of  the 
mind  that  the  Lord  calls  us  to  enter  some  new  sphere,  to  en- 
gage in  sotne  new  labor  for  his  glory,  that  we  long  for  an  ex- 
plicit revelation  of  his  will.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  too  many 
grieve  the  Spirit  of  God  by  dismissing  this  conviction  of  duty 
from  their  mind,  when  there  cometh  not  some  plain  providen- 
tial notice  of  what  the  Lord  would  have  them  to  do.  The 
Lord  still  teaches  by  his  word,  and  the  way  is  this.  He  shows 
us  the  greatness  of  the  love  of  Christ,  and  constrains  us  by 
this  to  desire  to  be  more  engaged  for  the  glory  of  God.  He 
teaches  us  to  observe  our  position,  our  aptitude  and  various 
circumstances.  He  takes  away  from  our  mind  all  bias,  the 
great  impediment  to  right  judgment.  And  he  gives  us  a  quick 
understanding  to  perceive  the  suggestions  and  monitions  of 
the  Spirit.  He  gives  us  faith,  and  a  willingness  to  go  forward 
without  a  preliminary  sense  of  strength. 


September  14. — "  The  Lord  God  will  help  me,  therefore  shall  I  not  be 
confounded." — Isaiah  1.  7. 

Help  is  needed  to  discharge  duties  that  are  too  great  for  us, 
to  encounter  dangers  that  are  too  severe  for  us,  to  face  enemies 
that  are  too  powerful  for  us,  to  bear  up  under  sore  disappoint- 
ments, under  the  loss  of  friends,  of  health,  of  fortune,  to  sus- 
tain the  consciousness  of  our  deep  demerit,  and  in  fact  it  is 
difficult  to  exhaust  the  catalogue  of  the  ends  for  which  we  need 
help.  Yet  there  are  very  few  who  are  visited  with  a  sense  of 
any  such  need  as  this.  The  reason  is  that  men  generally  take 
no  cognizance  of  their  real  duties,  are  not  aware  of  their  real 


312  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

enemies,  avoid  as  far  as  they  can  the  path  of  present  danger, 
and  stultify  themselves  with  ideas  of  their  own  goodness.  The 
man  that  does  not  attempt  to  climb  the  Alps  has  no  need  of  a 
guide ;  the  mariner  who  mystifies  himself  as  to  the  condition 
of  his  ship  and  denies  his  danger,  rejects  the  oflPer  of  help. 

We  need  help  from  Grod  to  know  our  helplessness.  The 
greatest  of  all  our  enemies  is  in  the  royal  chamber  of  our  in- 
most being  and  rules  us  with  a  rod  of  iron,  though  it  be  bound 
about  with  ivy  leaves.  We  need  help  from  God  himself  to 
become  aware  of  the  true  character  of  this  enthroned  enemy, 
and  to  see  the  desolations  he  has  wrought  in  our  heritage. 
Alas  for  them  who  know  not  their  need  of  help.  The  triumph 
of  their  foe  is  complete.  They  are  led  captive  at  his  will,  even 
though  we  see  them  occupying  the  high  places  of  the  earth, 
admired  and  followed  by  vast  crowds. 

It  requires  but  little  faith,  comparatively,  to  use  the  lan- 
guage of  this  text  when  there  is  a  very  inadequate  idea  of  the 
difficulties,  dangers,  impediments,  humiliations  that  may  be 
found  in  one's  path.  If  a  believer  entertains  the  idea  that 
the  covenant  relation  in  which  he  stands  to  the  Lord,  secures 
him  against  any  very  severe  stroke,  he  may  then  use  this  lan- 
guage without  knowing  what  he  says.  But  he  has  a  wrong 
idea.  The  Lord  sometimes  appoints  unto  his  people  tasks  of  a 
most  formidable  character,  trials  that  seem  studiously  calcu- 
lated to  grind  them  to  powder.  If  there  be  some  contingency 
that  the  believer  deprecates  with  all  the  might  of  his  soul,  the 
mere  imagination  of  which  is  utterly  dreadful  to  him,  so  that 
he  is  ready  to  say,  "  I  will  cheerfully  meet  all  other  conceiva- 
ble forms  of  trial  rather  than  this,"  it  is  not  impossible  that  the 
Lord  may  see  fit  to  single  out  this  very  trial  for  him. 

The  Lord  wishes  his  people  to  feel  that  being  allied  to  him, 
they  are  allied  to  all  strength  and  need  fear  no  evil.  But  he 
proceeds  with  unspeakable  gentleness.  He  gives  experience 
of  his  power  to  sustain,  in  various  ways.     He  gives  a  sense  of 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  813 

Lis  own  love,  wisdom,  and  faithfulness  that  prepares  the  heart 
to  encounter  the  desolation  which  it  speedily  dreads.  And  by 
the  time  that  we  come  into  the  presence  of  the  dreaded  thing, 
faith  has  so  far  forgot  the  victory,  that  we  wonder  at  ourselves 
for  ever  having  felt  such  a  shrinking  from  a  trial  so  easily 
borne.     Then  is  the  Lord  glorified. 


September  15. — "Let  all  those  that  put  their  trust  in  thee,  rejoice."— 
Psalm  V.  n. 

"  That  put  their  trust  in  thee."  Among  all  the  people  on 
the  face  of  the  earth,  these  are  the  only  ones  that  properly 
speaking  have  anything  to  do  with  joy. 

In  thee — in  the  God  of  the  Bible — the  God  of  whom  Moses 
wrote,  whom  David  feared,  whom  Elijah  served,  whom  Isaiah 
saw  in  the  temple,  whose  angel  succored  Daniel,  who  was  ma,- 
nifest  in  Christ,  and  who  for  Christ's  sake  gave  the  Spirit  to 
the  apostles  and  giveth  it  unto  us.  Some  believe  that  they 
can  improve  npon  the  character  of  God  in  the  Bible.  They 
discover  here  a  blemish,  there  another.  They  pity  those  who 
insist  upon  looking  to  God  just  as  he  is  revealed  in  his  word. 
Yet  they  call  themselves  Christians,  and  imagine  that  they  are 
trusting  in  God.  But  they  who  do  not  implicitly  trust  his 
word  cannot  be  said  to  trust  in  Him. 

That  put  their  trust  in  thee.  They  trust  not  in  uncertain 
riches,  for  happiness  and  security  against  the  possible  ills  of 
time,  but  in  God.  They  show  the  trust  they  put  in  God,  by 
daring  to  be  singular,  to  be  unconformed  to  the  ways  of  the 
world,  and  boldly  setting  aside  the  decretals  of  society  where 
these  tend  to  hinder  the  fullest  exhibition  of  pure  religion. 
They  trust  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  for  righteousness,  sanctin- 
cation,  and  complete  redemption.  They  believe  that  every  di- 
vine commandment  is  good,  is  the  expression  of  wisdom  and 
love,  and  they  view  disobedience  as  a  fall  from  faith.  They 
27 


314  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

evince  their  faith  in  God,  by  surrendering  themselves  to  the 
direction  of  the  Spirit  of  Grod,  to  be  guided  by  him  in  all 
things  and  in  all  times.  A  life  of  perfect  faith  would  be  a  life 
of  perfect  obedience.  There  is  faith,  however,  before  there  is 
perfect  faith.  The  first  lispings  of  faith  are  agreeable  to  Grod. 
There  is  the  promise  of  eventual  perfection  in  them. 

Let  these  rejoice.  For  by  faith  they  have  access  to  a  do- 
main that  is  altogether  enchanting  and  soul-satisfying.  The 
promises  of  God  are  theirs,  and  winged  by  these  they  escape 
from  the  dark  and  frowning  things  of  earth,  to  scenes  that  are 
radiant  with  all  that  is  beautiful  and  heavenly.  Other  men 
are  chained  to  earth ;  these  sit  in  heavenly  places.  Other  men 
are  chained  to  the  present;  these  expatiate  in  a  veritable  fu- 
ture, not  illusory.  Other  men  are  chained  to  men ;  these  walk 
with  God. 


SEPTESfBER  16. — "I  the  Lord  am  thy  Saviour  and  thy  Redeemer." — 
Isaiah  xlix.  26. 

What  an  inconceivable  length  and  breadth,  depth  and  height 
has  every  such  declaration  as  this !  The  whole  life-journey 
of  the  Christian  is  a  journey  into  the  treasures  that  lie  heaped 
up  in  this  sentence.  In  it,  in  fact,  are  all  the  treasures  of 
wisdom  and  knowledge.  After  a  month  of  some  peculiar  ex- 
perience, let  the  believer  come  and  look  into  this  verse,  and 
he  will  find  what  he  never  found  before.  In  the  avenue  com- 
manded by  this  verse,  no  two  Christians  are  at  exactly  the 
same  place ;  no  two  have  gathered  from  it  exactly  the  same 
amount  of  blessing. 

When  the  repentant  sinner  looks  upon  the  cross  of  Jesus 
Christ,  he  takes  hold  of  the  great,  surprising  truth,  that  the 
Lord  of  the  universe  has  entered  into  a  specific  covenant  for 
his  redemption.  He  has  found  a  friend,  one  pledged  to  go  all 
lengths  in  the  matter  of  his  deliverance  from  danger,  sin  and 
sorrow,  and  looking  upon  the  face  of  this  friend  seesjt  resplen- 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  '  315 

dent  with  an  uncreated  glory.  His  Saviour  is  seen  by  liim  to 
be  no  less  a  being  than  God.  But  his  conceptions  of  God  are 
yet  exceedingly  imperfect.  Daily  he  meditates  in  the  word ; 
follows  the  Lord  Jesus  through  all  the  scenes  of  his  earthly 
ministry ;  avails  himself  of  all  the  apostolic  expositions ;  fa- 
miliarizes himself  with  the  visions  of  Isaiah,  Ezekiel,  Daniel 
and  John.  The  character  of  God  unfolds  itself  wonderfully 
to  his  view ;  and  as  it  does  so,  the  words  "  I  the  Lord  am  thy 
Saviour  and  thy  Redeemer"  undergo  many  transfigurations, 
pass  from  one  glory  to  another.  The  whole  universe  waits 
upon  this  little  text,  for  all  the  hosts  of  heaven  exist  to  make 
known  Him  whose  relation  to  the  sinner  is  set  forth  in  this 
passage. 

There  are  innumerable  sorrows  of  life  that  cannot  but  take 
to  flight  when  faith  waves  this  sentence  over  them.  Why  art 
thou  cast  down,  my  brother  ?  Hast  thou  found  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  this  Saviour  and  Redeemer  is  not  so  great  a  person 
as  was  once  supposed ;  and  that  you  have  committed  your  des- 
tinies to  a  person  who  is  very  little  more  capable  than  yourself 
of  bringing  you  to  bliss  and  purity  and  glory  ?  Your  look 
seems  to  intimate  that  you  have  made  such  a  discovery.  If 
you  really  believe  that  He  who  has  taken  upon  him  to  conduct 
3'ou  to  paradise  is  a  being  of  absolute  power,  infinite  authority, 
matchless  wisdom,  unfailing  faithfulness,  and  inexhaustible 
mercy,  why  art  thou  cast  down  ?  In  the  presence  of  his  in- 
finite perfection,  lift  up  your  petty  ills  and  see  what  they  look 
like. 

September  17. — "I,  even  I,  am  he  that  comforteth  you."— Isaiah 
li.  12. 

Your  affliction  is  very  great ;   but  there  is  a  corresponding 

greatness  in  your  comforter.     I  that  died  on  Calvary,  that  have 

all  power  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  who  am  from  everlasting  to 

everlasting,  I  am  he  that  comforteth  you.     I  looked  upon  your 


316  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

sorrow  long  before  you  came  into  existence,  and  on  every  page 
of  my  word  that  I  caused  to  be  written,  I  introduced  some 
word  of  comfort  with  reference  to  you.  Turn  over  the  leaves 
of  Scripture  and  see  how  much  I  have  been  occupied  about 
you  in  days  of  yore.  With  all  wisdom  and  kindness  I  sought 
out  such  expressions  as  were  calculated  to  dissipate  your  grief. 
In  due  time  I  became  incarnate,  and  every  loving  thing  that  I 
did,  I  commanded  that  the  news  of  it  should  be  conveyed  to 
you.  I  showed  my  pierced  hands  and  feet  to  my  disciples  and 
instructed  them  to  tell  the  gospel  of  my  grace  to  you.  I  have 
comforted  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  whose  misery  was 
quite  as  invincible  perhaps  as  thine.  •  Shall  I  at  last  fail  with 
thee  ?  Must  I  experience  a  new  humiliation  ?  Must  it  be  at 
length  proclaimed  that  thou  hast  lost  something  of  superior 
value  to  what  I  can  bestow,  of  greater  worth  than  myself? 

There  is  one  disadvantage,  as  it  seems  to  men,  connected  with 
these  offices  of  mine.  I  can  only  comfort  by  means  of  the 
truth.  I  have  no  illusions  to  offer.  The  world  with  its  illu- 
sions finds  no  difficulty  in  banishing  this  and  that  sorrow.  But 
it  banishes  them  to  an  isle  whither  the  individual  himself  must 
soon  come  and  find  them  stronsrer  a  thousand-fold  than  when 
they  left  him.  My  solace  is  for  to-day,  to-morrow  and  forever. 
This  thou  hast,  that  thou  art  not  willing  to  take  refuge  from 
thy  sorrow  in  the  world's  illusions.  Thou  hast  summoned  me 
and  I  am  come.  My  name  is  Love.  If  there  be  excellence 
anywhere  in  the  universe,  it  has  been  bestowed  by  me.  All 
the  glory  and  beauty  and  joy  of  the  universe  are  mine;  and  a 
thousand  times  more. 


September  18. — "  Is  Ephraim  my  dear  son  ?  Is  he  a  pleasant  child  ? 
For  since  I  spake  against  him,  I  do  earnestly  remember  him  still." — Jere- 
miah xxxi.  20. 

Written  according  to  the  analogy  of  the  English  language, 
this  would  be,  "Is  not  Ephraim  my  dear  son?     Is  he  not  a 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  317 

pleasant  child  ?"  The  sins  of  the  itn  tribes,  represented  by 
Ephraim,  had  required  of  the  Lord  to  withhold  from  them  the 
expressions  of  his  kindness,  and  to  give  them  into  the  hands  of 
their  enemies  that  they  might  have  a  taste  of  the  great  differ- 
ence between  the  service  of  an  earthly  master  and  that  of 
their  heavenly  master.  But  as  a  king  whose  son  has  trans- 
gressed the  laws  of  the  land,  and  whom  it  has  beeii  found 
necessary  to  send  into  exile,  is  still  remembered  as  a  son,  and 
will  be  recalled  as  soon  as  justice  allows,  to  his  father's  pres- 
ence, so  God  yearned  over  those  whom  he  had  been  constrained 
to  banish  for  a  season  from  his  presence. 

Believers  are  the  sons  of  God  in  the  midst  of  a  perverse 
generation.  When  they  forget  their  high  descent  and  live  as 
men  that  are  yet  in  their  sins,  they  bring  a  cloud  over  their 
conscience  through  which  the  rays  of  the  divine  love  faintly 
penetrate.  But  when  some  sense  of  the  bitterness  of  their 
situation  has  taken  hold  upon  them,  and  longings  for  commu- 
nion with  God  are  intermingled  with  fears  lest  they  have  for- 
feited all  hope  of  restoration,  then  they  may  hear  the  marvel- 
lous expressions  of  our  text.  Paternity  is  a  bond  not  easily 
broken.  What  God  hath  wrought  in  you  in  former  days, 
ihough  it  be  much  of  it  fallen  into  unsightliness  and  ruin,  is 
yet  a  memorial  of  his  grace  that  may  be  viewed  as  having  an 
attraction  for  Him.  Yes,  if  you  will  give  God  an  opportunity 
of  glorifying  his  Son  by  means  of  you,  if  Christ  may  yet  be 
lionored  through  you,  there  is  no  reason  why  you  should  doubt 
tliat  God  will  take  pleasure  in  you,  and  regard  you  as  a  pleasant 


September  19.— "All  the  ends  of  the  earth  shall  see  the  salvation  of 
our  God." — Isaiah  li.  10. 

These  words  are  remarkable  as  being  the  utterance  of  a 
Hebrew  prophet,  in  days  when   Gentiles  were  viewed  as  castr 


318  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

aways.  What  Christ  long  afterwards  commanded  is  liere 
prophesied.  We  now  behold  the  beginning  of  the  fulfilment. 
The  ends  of  the  earth  are  becoming  in  some  sense  acquainted 
with  the  wonderful  ransom  paid  for  sinners  by  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

The  universal  preaching  of  the  Gospel  brings  out  first  and 
foremost  the  great  truth  of  the  universality  of  man's  apostasy 
and  of  his  inherent  opposition  to  the  divine  plan  of  salvation. 
The  Gospel  triumphs  nowhere  without  a  struggle,  without  a 
conflict.  It  has  to  endure  the  contradiction  of  sinners.  But 
the  salvation  of  God  is  seen  in  every  country  when  men  and 
women  of  that  country  embrace  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 
But  it  seems  to  the  benighted  people  perdition,  not  salvation ; 
and  its  proclaimers  are  counted  destroyers,  not  benefactors. 
But  there  is  power — and  it  is,  in  alliance  with  the  Gospel,  to 
be  revealed  from  heaven  in  due  time, — to  convince  all  these 
ungodly  men  of  their  ungodly  deeds,  and  make  them  sensible 
of  their  absolute  need  of  just  such  a  salvation  as  that  which 
Christ  ofi'ers. 

Christ  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  shall  be  satisfied. 
He  shall  see  that  for  which  his  soul  travailed  in  such  inde- 
scribable anguish  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane;  the  joy  that 
was  set  before  him  he  shall  experience,  when  his  people  shall 
be  one  in  him,  even  as  he  is  one  with  the  Father )  when  the 
New  Jerusalem  shall  come  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  and 
kings  shall  bring  their  honor  and  their  glory  into  it ;  when  his 
bride  shall  have  been  presented  before  the  throne  of  his  Father's 
glory,  without  spot  or  wrinkle  or  any  such  thing.  He  shall 
see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  be  satisfied,  when  all  his 
people  have  seen  of  the  travail  of  their  souls  and  are  satisfied. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  319 

September  20. — "Because  thou  sayest,  I  am  rich,  and  increased  with 
goods,  and  have  need  of  nothing;  and  knowest  not  that  thou  art  wretched 
and  miserable  and  poor  and  blind  and  naked." — Revelation  iii.  17. 

Take  away  the  sense  of  need,  and  blessings  are  bestowed  in 
vain.  They  are  no  longer  blessings.  Food  is  of  no  avail  to  a 
man  whose  appetite  is  satisfied.  Blessed  are  they  that  hunger 
and  thirst  after  righteousness  ',  they  shall  be  filled,  but  not  in 
any  sense  that  shall  leave  them  unacquainted  with  need.  They 
shall  never  hunger,  as  those  who  haT'e  not  the  means  of  satis- 
fying their  hunger ;  but  only  as  those  who  have  much  goods 
laid  up  for  everhisting  days  in  Christ.  The  spring  of  our 
happiness  is  not  in  ourselves,  but  in  Christ,  and  so  it  shall  ever 
be ;  and  the  spiritual  life  that  flows  to  us  from  him,  meets  and 
must  ever  meet,  a  desire  in  us.  Desire  is  not  banished  from 
heaven  ',  it  walks  hand  in  hand  with  satisfaction.  The  branch 
receives  from  the  vine  what  the  branch  needs.  Desire  brings 
us  to  the  throne  of  grace  and  desire  keeps  us  there. 

A  Christian  without  a  sense  of  need;  what  an  unhappy 
spectacle  !  The  Laodicean  church  had  need  of  nothing:  "Was 
it.  that  their  cup  was  running  over  through  the  unmeasured 
outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ?  Was  the  love  of  God  so  shed 
abroad  in  their  hearts  that  they  had  no  room  for  more  ?  Not 
so.  Could  you  satisfy  the  personal  need  of  the  true  follower 
of  Christ,  he  would  immediately  annex  the  need  of  his  neigh- 
bor ;  and  while  there  remained  a  single  discoverable  need  in 
all  the  world,  he  would  refuse  to  know  himself  unneeding. 

The  abundance  of  grace  bestowed  upon  the  Christian,  has 
not  the  tendency  to  destroy  his  sense  of  need.  Unto  him  that 
hath  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  more  abundance,  more 
and  more ;  for  the  Spirit  of  God  so  gives  as  to  make  us  value 
his  gifts  and  desire  what  he  has  yet  to  bestow.  The  sense  of 
fulness  accompanies  very  low  degrees  of  attainment.  If  de- 
sire goes  to  sleep,  it  is  because  we  loiter  so  much  in  the  path 
of  life,  or  turn  aside  to  bypaths. 


320  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

Worldly  prosperity  has  ever  been  a  great  snare  to  tlie  Cliurcli. 
Account  for  it  as  we  may,  desire  for  spiritual  blessings  is  very 
mucli  overborne  by  the  acquisition  of  worldly  wealth.  A 
Christian  community  has  some  advantages  over  others,  in  the 
pursuit  of  wealth.  Their  personal  expenditure  is  limited,  in 
some  degree  at  least,  by  their  professed  principles.  They  are 
the  followers  of  one  who  made  himself  poor.  They  are  in- 
dustrious, provident,  economical,  self-subduing,  guarded  and 
thoughtful.  They  gradually  become  wealthy.  Their  wealth 
they  look  upon  as  the  expression  of  God's  favor.  Pride,  self- 
confidence,  worldliness,  are  pretty  sure  to  follow.  Where  your 
treasure  is  there  will  your  heart  be  also.  The  place  in  their 
regard  occupied  by  their  earthly  riches,  interferes  decidedly 
with  the  absorbing  attractions  that  should  belong  to  the  things 
which  pertain  to  life  and  godliness.  "Were  there  grace  enough 
to  maintain  unbroken  the  consecration  of  our  all  to  Christ,  , 
then  the  flowing  in  of  worldly  substance  would  not  be  harmful ; 
it  would  be  understood  that  Christ  is  just  availing  himself  of 
our  stewardship  to  pour  abroad  upon  a  needy  worlcl,  not  merely 
spiritual  but  temporal  goods.  But  too  commonly,  this  conse- 
cration fails,  when  the  amount  of  what  is  to  be  consecrated, 
increases.  As  there  never  was  a  time,  probably,  when  Chris- 
tians had  so  large  a  share  of  the  gold  and  silver  of  this  world, 
as  they  now  have,  we  may  well  believe  that  the  admonitions 
contained  in  this  epistle  to  the  Laodiceans,  deserve  to  be  seri- 
ously pondered  at  this  day,  and  zealously  acted  upon. 


September  21. — "  He  will  not  always  chide,  neither  will  he  keep  his 
anger  forever." — Psalm  eiii.  9. 

The  believer  walks  as  seeing  him  who  is  invisible,  and  re- 
ceives ever3^thing  from  the  hand  of  his  heavenly  Father.  He 
does  not  overlook  the  part  that  hp  himself  may  have  had  in 
bringing  about  a  calamity ;   nor  the  part  that  his  fcUow-mcn 


DAILY   MEDITATIOXS.  321 

may  have  had  in  it ;  nor  the  agency  of  evil  spirits ;  nor  the 
laws  of  nature,  if  so  you  choose  to  call  them ;  but  after  notic- 
ing these  causes  his  soul  looks  away  to  the  Great  Cause,  to 
Ilim  who  sitteth  upon  the  throne  of  the  universe  and  is  not 
unmindful  of  a  fluttering  sparrow. 

God  has  not  given  a  constitution  to  the  universe  that  limits 
in  the  least  his  power  to  deal,  at  any  and  every  moment,  with 
each  individual  soul  in  the  way  that  his  blessed  impulses  may 
suggest.  How  lamentably  defective,  how  strangely  erring  are 
those  philosophies  that  imagine  that  the  Almighty  has  tied  up 
his  own  hands,  and  only  loosens  them  at  some  great  intervals 
to  give  the  machinery  of  creation  a  new  activity.  Men  in  gen- 
eral conceive  of  God  as  without  present  liberty  to  do  anything 
in  the  universe ;  with  far  less  faculty  of  spontaneous  action 
than  they  themselves  possess.  They  may  like  or  dislike,  give 
or  withhold,  but  God  must  let  the  course  of  nature  flow  un- 
brokenly  on.  But  the  Christian  is  not  thus  without  God  in 
the  world.  Not  only  are  all  things  of  him,  but  all  things  are 
through  him  and  to  him.  He  is  not  only  at  the  beginning 
and  end  of  time,  but  present  with  all  his  works  throughout 
the  entire  course  of  time. 

The  Christian  knows  that  there  is  a  relation  connecting  hini 
and  God,  and  he  sees  and  knows  all  things  in  this  relation. 
You  might  suppose,  perhaps,  that  in  the  day  of  his  affliction 
it  would  be  an  aggravation  of  his  grief  to  recognize  God  as  the 
author  of  it ;  but  I  assure  you  that  he  is  not  at  all  willing  to 
exchange  this  conviction  for  the  notion  that  his  affliction  came 
undesigned.  "  Let  me  rather,"  he  says,  ^'  feel  that  God  is 
chiding  me,  than  that  God  is  without  care  for  me.  Woe  is 
me,  if  I  am  cast  adrift  upon  the  ocean  of  circumstances.  I 
would  not  desire  a  heaven  that  circumstances  could  give  mo. 
The  light  and  glory  of  this  universe  is  gone,  the  dignity  of  ex- 
istence is  destroyed,  the  attraction  of  the  future  is  no  more, 
when  it  becomes  doubtful  that  God  is  in  immediate  relation 


OZZ  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

with  every  one  of  his  creatures.  I  know  that  He  is  mine  and 
that  I  am  His;  and  when  He  chides,  I  accept  it  as  a  gracious 
token  of  his  interest  in  me,  and  rejoice  to  think  that  it  will 
soon  be  succeeded  by  tokens  of  a  heavenlier  kind.  If-  he 
chide,  it  is  but  for  a  small  moment,  the  smallest  possible  mo- 
ment that  the  necessities  of  my  nature  will  admit  of." 


September  22, — "Ye  were  as  sheep  going  astray,  but  are  now  returned 
unto  the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  your  souls." — 1  Peter  ii.  25. 

Drawing  nigh  to  Peter,  many  years  after  the  ascension  of 
his  Lord,  we  find  him  reading;  and  looking  over  his  shoulder, 
see  that  he  is  occupied  with  our  own  good  Isaiah,  and  that  his 
attention  is  directed  to  what  we  designate  as  the  fifty-third 
chapter  and  sixth  verse:  "All  we  like  sheep  have  gone 
astray."  And  when  he  takes  up  his  pen  to  write  to  the 
churches,  how  readily  and  naturally  do  the  words  glide  from 
him :  "  Ye  were  as  sheep  going  astray."  We  need  not  sup- 
pose that  Peter,  writing  this,  was  unmindful  of  the  sad  facts 
of  his  own  early  history,  when  he  went  astray  denying  the 
Lord  that  was  about  to  lay  down  his  life  for  him. 

The  knowledge  that  the  Christian  has  of  the  natures  of  men 
is  not  so  much  insight  as  experience.  Men  resent  the  descrip- 
tion he  gives  of  the  heart  of  man ;  but  they  should  consider 
that  he  is  relating  what  he  has  seen  in  his  own  heart,  being 
taught  of  God  that  heart  answereth  to  heart.  He  is  no  mis- 
anthropist, expressing  his  disgust  at  the  treatment  he  has  re- 
ceived from  man,  but  a  philanthropist,  telling  the  result  of 
certain  experiments  to  which  his  own  heart  has  been  sub- 
jected. 

Men  desire  independence.  They  wish  to  be  let  alone. 
They  prefer  to  choose  their  own  paths.  They  scorn  the  sug- 
gestion that  a  shepherd  is  necessary  to  them.  Yet  there  is 
something  occurring  every  parsing  hour  to  show  them  their 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  323 

need  of  a  superior  being  to  guide  them ;  one  who  can  see  the 
end  from  the  beginning ;  who  knows  the  qualities  and  tenden- 
cies of  all  things ;  who  looks  upon  dangers  and  losses  before 
they  arise  and  makes  provision  for  them;  who  can  tear  in 
pieces  the  lion  and  the  bear ;  can  furnish  a  shelter  from  the 
storm,  a  shadow  from  the  heat.  At  every  moment  evil  in  some 
form  starts  up,  saying,  "  You  are  my  prey ;  you  are  wandering 
in  this  world  without  God ;  you  have  not  this  mark  upon  your 
forehead."  Nevertheless,  men  insist  upon  running  the  gaunt- 
let of  all  the  ills  that  line  the  pathway  of  life,  until,  all  hacked 
to  pieces,  they  sink  into  their  final  place  of  unrest  and  misery. 
Happy  are  they,  alas  how  few,  who  perceive  the  forlornness  of 
a  life  without  God,  and  allow  themselves  to  be  found  of  the 
good  Shepherd  and  brought  back  to  his  little  flock  and  to  its 
y:lorious  destinies ! 


September  23. — "If  any  man  thirst  let  him  come  unto  me  and  drink." — 
John  vii.  37. 

Who  is  this  that  stands  in  the  midst  of  an  assemblage  of 
mortals  and  makes  proclamation  in  a  loud  and  fearless  voice, 
that  if  any  man,  not  merely  in  that  assembly  but  throughout 
the  whole  world,  desire  happiness,  he  should  draw  near  and 
obtain  what  he  desires  ?  Who  is  this  that  offers  to  heal  all 
human  woes  and  accomplish  in  behalf  of  the  entire  human  fa- 
mily, deliverance  from  the  curse  ?  That  speaks  of  himself  as 
a  fountain  of  the  water  of  life  springing  up  in  the  centre  of 
the  earth,  and  sending  forth  abundant  streams  to  bless  all  na- 
tions, tribes,  and  tongues  ?  That  not  merely  undertakes  the 
highest  functions  of  deity,  but  reveals  the  deity  as  present  in 
the  very  midst  of  the  family  of  man,  bringing  to  the  doors  and 
hearts  of  men  the  most  distinctive  gifts  of  heaven  ?  He  that 
speaks  must  be  either  a  madman  or  God  manifest  in  the  flesh. 

Draw  nigh  to  him  and  behold.  He  opens  the  eyes  of  the 
blind ',  but  that  is  little.     He  heals  all  diseases ;  that  too.  is 


324  DAILY    MEDITATIOXS. 

little.  He  raises  the  dead ;  even  that  is  little.  It  is  one  thing 
to  recall  men  from  the  grave ;  another  thing  to  fill  their  souls 
with  imperishable  joy.  Behold  him  then  on  the  cross.  He 
cries  out,  "  I  thirst."  All  the  billows  of  the  wrath  of  God 
pass  over  him.  You  ask,  "  How  can  this  sufi'erer  heal  the 
woes  of  men  ?  This  thirster  quench  the  thirst  of  the  world?" 
Understand  that  those  billows  are  of  the  wrath  of  God  not 
against  him,  but  against  you  and  your  fellow-sinners;  and  that 
he  emerges  from  this  deep  baptism  of  anguish  with  a  charter 
of  life  for  all  that  shall  believe  upon  him. 

In  the  vanity  fair  of  this  world  you  see  over  many  a  shop  a 
scroll  bearing  the  words,  "  If  any  man  thirst  let  him  come 
hither  and  drink."  The  servants  of  Satan  exhibit  a  thousand 
blandishments.  What  Christ  alone  can  do,  a  thousand  illusions 
of  life  profess  to  do.  All  that  they  can  do  is  really  to  destroy 
the  souls  that  trust  in  them. 

The  question  for  you  is  :  Do  you  thirst  ?  Have  you  desires 
ungratified?  Aspirations  after  a  higher,  nobler  existence; 
after  purity,  heavenly  wisdom,  love,  usefulness,  communion 
with  the  blessed,  immortality  and  glory  ?  Come  then  to  the 
meek  and  lovely  one,  to  him  whose  hand  and  feet  were  pierced. 
His  word  is  nigh  thee.  Embrace  it  with  thy  heart,  then  shalt 
thou  find  him  in  thy  heart ;  and  in  finding  ^him,  thou  findest 
happiness  and  a  crown  of  life. 


September  24. — "All  thy  children  shall  be  taught  of  the  Lord,  and 
great  shall  be  the  peace  of  thy  children." — Isaiah  liv.  13. 

They  that  are  Christ's  are  Abraham's  seed,  and  we  are 
among  the  posterity  whose  privileges  are  here  foreshadowed. 
The  people  of  God  are  those  that  are  taught  of  God,  and  they 
that  are  taught  of  God,  have  great  peace.  The  throne  of  God 
is  the  seat  of  a  oreat  teacher.     The  course  of  nature  is  a  course 

o 

of  instruction.     The  universe  is  one  vast  school.     God  writes 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  325 

lessons  for  men  on  tlie  firmament,  on  the  sea,  on  the  sands,  on 
the  mountains,  on  the  forests;  yea  on  every  leaf  We  tread 
on  problems ;  tasks  are  set  us  in  the  air  we  breathe.  If  we 
shut  up  all  our  senses  and  bury  ourselves  in  the  recesses  of 
our  being,  even  there  some  question  shall  address  us,  some 
lesson  shall  meet  us.  But  sin  makes  men  insensible  to  all  this. 
The  firmament  may  declare  the  glory  of  God ;  but  they  will 
hear  so  much  of  the  declaration  as  they  list,  and  no  more. 
Their  minds  are  drugged  with  sin  so  that  the  instructions  of 
creation  and  of  providence  are  lost  upon  them.  They  are 
without  God  in  a  world  where  everything  proclaims  his  pres- 
ence, his  perfections  and  his  glory. 

But  some  are  taught  of  the  Lord.  They  are  taught  con- 
cerning their  own  ignorance,  their  sinfulness,  their  danger. 
They  are  shown  their  need  of  something  that  is  not  in  nature, . 
even  an  Almighty  Saviour,  an  All-wise  Sanctifier.  They  are 
taught  to  behold  all  excellence  in  Christ.,  and  to  repose  all  con- 
fidence in  him.  They  bring  all  their  knowledge  to  God — all 
that  they  have  been  collecting  since  childhood — that  he  may 
look  it  over  and  cast  away  what  he  will.  They  want  no  opin- 
ions but  the  opinions  of  God ;  no  wisdom  but  that  which  is 
from  above. 

Wonderful  is  the  mystery  of  life.  Creatures  of  clay,  we 
are  as  gods  in  our  liberty  of  choice,  in  our  conscious  freedom, 
and  as  devils  in  the  abuse  of  that  freedom.  All  the  experi- 
ments carried  on  for  the  last  six  thousand  years  show  that  there 
is  something  fearfully  amiss.  One  man  uses  his  freedom  in 
one  way,  another  in  another  way ;  a  thousand  men  in  a  thou- 
sand difierent  ways;  but  it  is  manifest  with  respect  to  all,  that 
tliey  none  of  them  hit  upon  a  right  theory  and  practice  of 
life.  They  are  perpetually  coming  in  conflict  with  the  ma- 
chinery of  the  universe,  getting  entangled  and  bruised  in  the 
wheels  of  God's  providence,  and  passing  merely  from  one 
phase  of  confusion  to  another.     "  Why  are  we  endowed  with 

28 


326  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

this  liberty,"  say  they,  "  but  that  we  may  use  it  ?  Why  are 
we  made  voluntary  beings  but  that  we  may  carry  out  our  vo- 
litions ?  We  are  permitted  to  act  as  we  like,  why  is  it  not 
good  to  do  so  ?" 

Here  is  their  mistake,  their  great  and  fatal  mistake.  Their 
liberty  is  given  them  in  order  that  they  may  freely  do  the  will 
of  God.  It  would  be  derogatory  to  the  character  of  God  to 
make  his  intelligent  creatures  serve  him  by  compulsion,  by  ir- 
resistible force.  He  disdains  to  be  served  otherwise  than  by 
choice  and  love.  But  the  universe  is  so  constituted  that  it  is 
impossible  for  men  to  find  true  peace  or  solid  advantage  while 
tliey  follow  their  own  capricious  wills.  Everything  repulses 
man,  lacerates  him,  torments  him.  The  wonder  is  that  he  is 
so  slow  to  discover  what  is  the  true  use  to  be  made  of  his  li- 
berty. When  at  length  he  delights  himself  in  the  Lord,  then 
does  the  Lord  grant  him  the  desires  of  his  heart.  When  ho 
chooses  to  do  God's  will,  then  he  becomes  as  God  in  several 
most  surprising  respects.  Apart  from  God,  a  worm ;  united  to 
God,  he  is  a  temple  of  God,  a  throne  of  God. 


September  25. — "To  us  belongeth  confusion  of  face,  because  we  have 
sinned  against  thee." — Daniel  ix.  8. 

A  great  many  of  our  confessions  of  sin  fall  trippingly  from 
the  tongue,  as  though  the  commission  and  the  acknowledgment 
were  all  a  mere  matter  of  course.  How  little  of  self-reproach 
there  seems  to  be  in  it  all !  How  little  shame,  how  little  confu- 
sion of  face  I  A  public  exposure — the  attention  of  men  drawn 
to  one  of  the  least  of  these  sins — would  fill  us  with  unspeak- 
able shame.  Is  God  then  nobody  in  comparison  with  man  ? 
Because  God  has  forgiven  us  so  readily,  are  we  to  make  light 
of  the  sins  committed  against  him  ?  But  in  order  that  God 
might  forgive  us  the  least  of  all  these  sins,  it  was  necessary 
that  Christ  should  endure  the  contradiction  of  sinners,  pass 
through  the  agony  of  Gethsemane,  and  die  upon  the  cross. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  327 

Cliristians  sometimes  say,  "  Of  what  avail  is  it  to  be  study- 
ing our  committed  sins?  Eather  let  us  exercise  faith.." 
Faith  is  everything  indeed;  but  faith  will  never  attain  its  pro- 
per proportions  where  there  is  no  just  idea  of  what  it  is  that 
God  has  forgiven  us.  How  can  we  rightly  know  the  goodness 
of  God,  if  we  do  not  know  the  greatness  of  sin  ?  In  fact  this 
is  one  of  the  exercises  of  faith,  one  of  her  most  distinctive  and 
honorable  triumphs ;  the  perception,  namely,  of  what  sin  really 
is.  Some  Christians  imagine  that  they  will  lose  their  peace  in 
this  way.  Let  them  lose  it,  and  get  a  better  one.  Do  they 
not  know  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  Spirit  of  truth,  and  that 
he  is  given  to  guide  us  into  all  truth,  that  relating  to  ourselves 
and  that  relating  to  God  ?  Contrition  and  faith  are  not  ene- 
mies; contrition  and  love,  contrition  and  joy;  all  these  in  fact 
belong  together. 


September  26. — *' Rejoice,  inasmuch  as  ye  are  partakers  of  Christ's 
sufferings." — 1  Peter  iv.  13. 

Had  Peter  done  as  he  promised  to  do,  and  followed  Christ 
from  Gethsemane,  content  to  be  bound  with  him,  mocked  with 
him,  scourged  with  him,  condemned  with  him,  and  crucified 
with  him,  what  an  incomparably  exalted  place  would  he  have 
had  in  our  regard.  Nothing  but  his  own  treacherous  heart 
hindered  him  from  occupying  this  worthiest  and  sublimest  of 
places  occupied  by  mere  finite  men.  However,  as  his  Lord 
generously  foretold,  he  followed  him  afterwards.  He  met  the 
^ame  hostility,  the  same  bitterness  and  cruelty ;  and  we  read 
in  the  Acts  that  he  rejoiced  in  being  counted  worthy  to  suficr 
for  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Oh !  that  we  might  ha^e 
faith  in  the  day  of  reproach  and  injury  encountered  in  Christ's 
service,  to  perceive  him,  even  the  Prince  of  the  kings  of  the 
earth,  at  our  side,  dividing  with  us  the  indignities  that  are 
heaped  upon  us.  Who  would  not  call  that  a  light  affliction  ? 
Who  would  not  rejoice  ? 


328  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

September "27. — ''I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake  with  thy  like- 
ness."— Psalm  xvii.  15. 

Christ  prayed  for  liis  people  that  they  might  be  with  him 
where  he  was  ("  where  I  am")  and  behold  his  glory.  Christ 
is  formed  in  us,  the  hope  of  glory ;  glorious  now  as  revealed 
by  faith,  so  that  we  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory;  but  immeasurably  more  glorious  upon  the  throne  of  the 
heavenly  majesty,  entrancing  the  universe  with  the  image  of 
the  invisible  Grod. 

/  shall  he  satujied :  let  a  man  look  into  his  heart  and  see 
how  much  is  comprehended  in  this.  He  imagines  almost  that 
his  heart  is  a  bottomless  abyss,  and  that  God  might  empty  into 
it  all  his  treasures  and  fail  to  fill  it.  But  his  cup  shall  run 
over.  He  shall  be  satisfied.  And  throughout  a  never-endino: 
eternity  he  shall  never  more  be  cursed  with  unsatisfied  desires. 


September  28. — **I  have  seen  his  ways,  and  will  heal  him." — Isaiah 
Ivii.  18. 

The  greater  part  of  mankind  pass  through  the  earthly  stage 
of  their  existence  without  anything  that  can  appropriately  be 
termed  the  knowledge  of  God.  To  others,  however,  it  is  given 
in  some  most  solemn  moment  to  find  themselves  suddenly  in 
the  presence  of  God  and  to  be  overwhelmed  with  the  percep- 
tion of  his  holiness,  power,  sovereignty,  and  omniscience.  The 
scales  fall  from  their  eyes,  and  they  behold  that  sublime  and 
offended  Majesty  in  whose  august  presence  they,  in  willing 
imconsciousness,  have  been  for  many  a  long  year  committing 
their  abominable  transgressions.  Then  they  exclaim  with 
amazement  and  profoundest  humiliation :  "  Thou  hast  searched 
me  and  known  me;  thou  art  acquainted  with  all  my  ways." 
The  relations  of  that  hour  are  very  partial,  very  imperfect; 
were  they  otherwise  it  would  be  impossible  to  sustain  them. 
Man  has  become  so  naturalized  in  the  domain  of  falsehood. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  329 

that  to  strip  him  at  once  of  all  his  falsehood  would  be  to  rend 
his  body  and  soul  asunder  and  consign  the  immortal  part  of 
him  to  everlasting  despair.  There  is  reason  to  believe  thtit 
such  a  day  will  dawn  for  the  world  at  large ;  a  day  when  the 
Lord  shall  be  revealed  in  his  glory,  and  every  eye  shall  sec 
him;  and  multitudes  shall  call  upon  the  mountains  to  fall 
upon  them  and  hide  them  from  the  face  of  him  that  sitteth 
upon  the  throne.  But  now  we  have  as  it  were  only  adumbra- 
tions of  the  judgment  that  is  to  come. 

Is  there  not  something  very  humiliating  and  condemning  in 
the  thought  that  you  are  so  bound  up  in  falsehood,  it  has  be- 
come such  a  part  of  your  life,  that  it  is  necessary  to  proceed 
with  great  caution  in  removing  from  you  the  many  folds  of 
it? — Yet  even  the  partial  revelations  of  that  hour  when  God 
enabled  you  to  perceive  him  present  in  his  holiness  and  majesty, 
filled  your  soul  with  terror,  and  you  could  not  at  all  compre- 
hend how  peace  and  joy  could  ever  consist  with  the  discoveries 
then  made.  But  perhaps  this  reflection  then  arose  in  your 
mind  :  that  if  God  had  intended  you  to  have  experience  of 
his  wrath  alone,  he  would  probably  have  still  deferred  the  hour 
of  manifestation,  until  you  had  passed  the  bourne  of  hope, 
the  bourne  of  life. 

"  I  have  seen  his  ways,  saith  the  Lord,"  and  what  terrible 
sentence  may  we  not  look  for,  as  a  sequence  to  this  announce- 
ment ?  But  lo,  the  most  gracious  of  all  words  issue  from  his 
lips  :  "  I  will  heal  him."  The  knowledge  which  God  has  of 
our  corruption  and  deep  depravity,  soon  becomes  to  us  a  ground 
of  confidence ;  he  knows  what  we  need ;  perfectly  aware  of 
A'hat  we  are,  he  has  undertaken  to  restore  us,  and  he  will  cer- 
tainly accomplish  what  he  has  taken  in  hand. 
28  - 


330  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

September  29. — "For  the  iniquity  of  his  covetou?ness  was  I  ■nroth 
and  smote  him;  I  hid  me  and  was  wroth;  and  he  went  on  frowardly  in 
the  way  of  his  heart." — Isaiah  Ivii.  17.  • 

Grod  is  love ;  and  we  were  called  into  being  that  in  our 
measure  we  might  mai^ifest  forth  this  truth,  by  loving  one 
another.  But  we  are  an  apostate  race ;  and  each  one,  so  far 
from  seeking  to  be  the  servant  of  all,  is  bent  upon  serving 
himself  of  all.  Men  are  consecrated  first  and  foremost  to  the 
augmentation  of  their  own  gains.  Ordinarily  they  understand 
by  covetousness  some  extraordinary  development  of  the  passion 
for  gain.  But  the  question  is  not,  what  definition  of  it  is 
given  in  man's  code,  but  what  in  God's  code  ?  Now,  God 
stigmatizes  as  covetousness  all  desire  for  gain  that  checks  the 
exercise  of  faith  in  G  od  and  love  to  man ;  that  is  selfish  in 
origin  and  in  tendency;  that  is  hostile  to  a  spirit  of  humble 
contentment;  that  is  inconsistent  with  perfect  peace. 

This  age  is  intensely  selfish,  and  yet  finds  it  very  difficult  to 
become  sensible  of  its  selfishness.  There  are  so  many  noble 
enterprises  afoot ;  so  many  asylums  built ;  so  many  colleges 
and  schools  established ;  missions  for  the  heathen,  home  mis- 
sions, city  missions;  patriotic  funds,  famine  funds;  in  fine, 
mention  if  you  can  an  evil  that  has  lifted  up  its  head  in  any 
part  of  the  world,  for  which  we  have  not  made  some  benevo- 
lent arrangement.  I  do  not  shut  my  eyes  to  these  generous 
schemes.  It  certainly  looks  as  though  the  law  of  love  were 
written  on  the  forehead  of  the  times.  I  would  do  all  honor 
to  the  age,  or  rather  to  the  Father  of  ages,  the  giver  of  every 
good  and  perfect  gift.  But  ascribe  it  not  to  malevolence  or 
envy,  if  I  suggest  that  the  age  is  simply  giving  of  its  abun- 
dance. With  the  one  hand  it  gives  its  thousand,  but  with  the 
other  it  grasps  its  tens  of  thousands.  There  is  a  spirit  of 
profound  calculation  that  has  too  much  to  do  with  these  gifts. 
Almost  all  these  noble  benefiictions  have  had  their  origin  with 
the  Church ;  but  how  few  members  of  the  Church  give  even 


DAILY    MEDITATI02sS.  331 

tithes  of  all  that  they  possess.  Men  thiuk  themselves  henev- 
olent  because  they  look  at  what  they  give ;  God  thinks  them 
covetous,  because  he  sees  what  they  withhold. 

The  question  is  :  How  does  God  deal  with  his  people  when 
they  become  covetous  ?  You  w^ill  say,  He  chastises  them  and 
makes  them  poor  in  spirit.  Nay,  this  is  not  his  way.  Were 
it  such,  then  would  his  people  wait  for  his  providential  correc- 
tion and  believe  themselves  justified  in  pressing  forward  in  that 
evil  path,  until  he  should  meet  them.  AYith  an  infinitely  pro- 
founder  wisdom  God  deals  with  them.  He  chastises  them  in- 
deed, but  it  is  by  withdrawing  himself  And  they  perceive  it 
not.  And  now  does  their  position  become  most  dangerous. 
For  being  freed  from  many  remonstrances  addressed  them  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  they  precipitate  themselves  faster  and  still 
faster  along  their  chosen  career.  They  become  more  and  more 
worldly,  more  and  more  hardened.  What  shall  hinder  them 
from  crossing  that  path  beyond  which  the  Spirit  of  God  will 
never  seek  them  ? 

What  w^e  need  then  to  learn  is  this :  To  be  on  our  guard 
against  the  earliest  developments  of  this  passion,  and  to  hearken 
diligently  to  the  reproof  of  the  Spirit  of  God  w^hile  his  voice 
is  yet  distinctly  audible  :  for  let  the  evil  inclination  get  but  a 
little  more  strength  and  we  shall  make  shipwreck  of  our  faith. 


September  30. — "  There  is  no  peace,  saith  my  God,  to  the  wicked." — 
Isaiah  Ivii.  21. 

The  wicked  are  sometimes  seen  flourishing  as  a  green  bay- 
tree.  Their  cup  of  worldly  prosperity  runneth  over.  To  the 
spectator  their  days  appear  to  flow  by  in  pleasantness  and  peace. 
They  conform  to  the  world's  code  of  morals,  and  their  praises 
are  on  the  tongues  of  all.  They  fare  sumptuously  every  day 
and  fancy  that  they  are  to  sit  down  at  the  banquet  of  everlast- 
ing life.  Peace  and  prosperity  are  within  their  gates,  if  we 
ma}  believe  appearances.     But  we  j^refer  to  believe  God.     He 


66Z  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

knowctli   all  hearts.     He  kno^ys  what  is  worthy  to  be  called 
peace. 

That  certainly  is  not  worthy  to  be  called  peace,  which  cannot 
endure  to  face  all  truth.  You  look  down  deep  into  the  heart 
of  the  splendid  sinner  with  whom  all  seems  to  go  serenely,  and 
you  see  a  stone  sealed  with  many  seals.  You  ask,  what  is  un- 
derneath that  stone  ?  Hist !  breathe  no  such  unwelcome  in- 
terrogations as  this.  There  is  a  mystery  about  that  stone  and 
all  inquiry  is  disallowed,  all  mention  of  it  forbidden.  You  are 
waved  disdainfully  away  from  those  m3^sterious  penetralia. 
There  is  One  however  who  knoweth  well  the  secrets  of  all 
hearts,  and  who  is  willing  to  make  known  to  you  the  mystery 
of  that  stone  and  the  chamber  underneath.  Hearken  !  Be- 
neath that  stone  are  buried  many  things,  implacably  hostile  to 
the  peace  of  that  man.  The  law  of  his  being  is  such  that.it 
is  not  possible  to  extrude  them  from  the  mind,  to  bury  them 
in  the  depths  of  the  sea ;  wherefore,  as  the  only  alternative 
they  are  buried  in  the  depths  of  his  own  mind.  There  are 
the  suppressed  memories  of  innumerable  sins,  the  blotted  rec- 
ords of  many  experiences,  the  disregarded  warnings  of  con- 
science. There,  in  that  chamber  are  many  forgotten  passages 
of  Scripture,  once  heard,  once  for  a  moment  or  more  revolved 
in  the  mind;  many  words  of  Christ  and  his  apostles.  Many 
fragments  of  sermons  and  counsels  of  pious  friends  are  there. 
Vows,  prayers  even  are  there.  Nay,  there  are  thunders  there, 
thunders  of  God's  providence.  Truth  in  her  most  tremendous 
forms  is  there.  There  these  all  are  buried,  but  not  forever. 
There  is  to  be  a  resurrection,  a  terrible  retribution.  The  man 
has  made  for  himself  a  hell  within  himself,  and  has  covered  it 
over  with  a  stone  and  bound  dovrn  the  stone  with  a  few  i'rail 
bands,  and  he  calls  this  peace. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS'.  333 

October  1. — ''The  Lord  shall  be  thiue  everlasting  light,  and  the  days 
of  thy  mourning  shall  be  ended." — Isaiah  Ix.  20, 

Indicated  in  the  last  verse  of  the  preceding  chapter,  these 
glorious  prospects  are  displayed  before  God's  spiritual  Israel. 
They  that  reject  Christ  reject  all  the  good  forespoken  by  the 
prophets,  and  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  upon  them.  All 
things  belong  to  ihem  who  belong  to  Christ,  Christians  are 
taught  to  contemplate  not  merely  their  own  individual  blessed- 
ness and  perfection ;  but  the  unspeakable  blessedness  and  un- 
conceived  glory  of  that  condition  upon  which  the  whole  Church 
of  the  living  God  shall,  as  the  bride  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  as  the 
New  Jerusalem  come  down  from  heaven,  one  day  enter.  They 
are  now  the  light  of  the  world ;  the  Lord  shall  be  their  ever- 
lasting light.  There  shall  be  no  night  there.  And  this  mar- 
vellous condition  of  things  is  immediately  to  succeed  just  such 
a  condition  of  things  as  that  which  now  exists,  when  darkness 
covers  the  earth,  and  gross  darkness  the  people. 

The  Lord  shall  he  thine  everlasting  light.  He  who  by  faith 
embraces  the  XJhrist  of  the  gospel,  who  kisses  the  Son  in  the 
day  of  his  humiliation  when  his  visage  is  marred  more  than 
any  man's,  shall  then  be  enraptured  by  the  sun-eclipsing  glory 
that  shall  burst  from  the  countenance  of  Christ  the  King  of 
kings.  Lord  of  lords,  his  Christ,  forever  his,  with  all  his  glory 
his. 


0 

October  2. — "  Let  us  draw  near  with  a  true  heart." — Hebrews  x,  22. 

Seek  to  sound  the  depths  of  the  meaning  of  this  word,  draio 
near.  Examine  the  supplications  of  a  thousand  suppliants,  and 
they  will  show  these  suppliants  scattered  at  a  thousand  differ- 
ent distances  from  God,  but  almost  all  at  a  great  distance,  and 
out  of  the  whole  perhaps  only  one  dose  to  the  throne  of 
grace. 

There  is  much  to  hinder  this  drawing  near.  There  is  the 
inherited  habit  of  unbelieving  prayer.     The  supineness  of  the 


334  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

soul.  \Yorldly  care.  Worldly  joy.  Inappreclation  of  tlie 
possible  blessing.  Fear  of  discovering  some  unheeded  respon- 
sibilities. Want  of  realization  of  God's  personality.  And  a 
multitude  of  others. 

There  are  to  be  combats  all  along  the  road.  It  is  here  we 
must  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith.  It  is  a  noble  victory  when 
we  get  near  to  God ;  for  it  is  a  pledge  of  all  other  victories. 


October  3. — "He  only  is  my  rocW — Psalm  Ixii.  2. 

0,  happy  Psalmist,  who  canst  use  this  language  ?  Noi  only 
is  God  thy  rock ;  he  is  thine  only  rock.  On  him  dost  thou 
build  thy  confidence.  He  is  thy  only  refuge,  thy  only  safe- 
guard. 

How  grievously  do  they  insult  God  who  rely  in  part  upon 
him,  in  part  on  something  else ;  and  who  with  the  utmost  em- 
phasis of  their  souls  deprecate  being  left  alone  with  God,  shut 
up  to  him  alone.  They  would  fain  eke  out  the  insufficiency 
of  their  wealth  by  his  riches  of  mercy ;  the  inadequacy  of 
their  wisdom,  by  his  treasures  of  wisdom ;  the  imperfections 
of  their  strength,  by  his  power;  their  defective  title  to  heaven, 
by  his  readiness  to  save.  The  grace  of  the  gospel  they  accept 
as  supplemental  to  their  own  goodness.  Sometimes  it  happens 
to  such  to  be  stripped  of  all  their  wealth,  their  wisdom,  their 
goodness ;  and  lo !  to  the  surprise  of  their  Christian  friends, 
they  are  found  to  be  the  prey  of  an  intense  despair,  ^hen  is 
it  seen  how  very  slight  and  contemptible  a  part  they  had  as- 
signed to  God  in  the  matter  of  their  salvation.  They  are  un- 
utterably wretched,  because  God  alone  is  left  them. 

Happy  are  they  who  begin  by  recognizing  God  as  their  only 
rock.  This  rock  is  soon  found  to  be  marvellous  in  its  proper- 
ties. Beneath  the  footsteps  of  faith,  springs  of  joy,  peace, 
wisdom,  hope,  love  start  up,  creating  first  an  oasis,  then  a  pa- 
radise; walls  of  every  precious  stone  rise  and  enclose  it;  angels 
encamp  around  about  it. 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  335 

October  4. — "  The  Lord  is  nigh  unto  all  that  call  upon  him  in  truth." — 
Psalm  cxlv.  18. 

That  call  upon  liim  not  because  they  think  it  a  decorous 
thing,  not  as  an  act  of  homage  merely,  but  because  they  need 
what  he  alone  can  give,  and  believe  that  he  will  give  it  to 
them,  if  they  ask  wisely  and  in  faith. 

They  call  upon  him  in  truth,  who  make  nothing  of  them- 
selves, everything  of  Christ.  They  call  upon  him  in  truth, 
who  overlook  none  of  his  attributes,  but  view  him  as  his  word 
reveals  him.  "  If  ye  abide  in  me  and  my  words  abide  in  you, 
ye  shall  ask  what  ye  will,  and  it  shall  be  done  unto  you.'' 

We  bring  God  nigh  to  us  by  banishing  falsehood  from  us, 
by  making  room  for  the  truth  in  our  hearts.  "  If  any  man 
love  me  he  will  keep  my  words;  and  my  Father  will  love  him, 
and  will  come  unto  him  and  make  his  abode  with  him." 


October  5. — "Be  content  with  such  things  as  ye  have;  for  he  hath  said, 
I  will  never  leave  thee  nor  forsake  thee."^Hehrews  xiii.  5. 

This  promise  was  addressed  in  the  first  instance  to  Joshua; 
not  because  he  was  Joshua,  but  because  he  was  a  believer ; 
and  it  is  valid  for  every  believer. 

The  believer  is  to  be  content  with  such  things  as  he  has. 
"Behold  Lazarus  at  the  gate  of  the  rich  man,  his  body  full  of 
sores, 'without  food,  shelter,  friends.  Is  he  to  be  content  with 
such  things  as  he  has  ?  He  has  nothing."'  Yes,  he  has  some- 
thing. Let  us  try  to  take  an  inventory  of  it.  He  has  a 
Father  in  heaven,  upon  the  throne  of  thrones,  possessing  all 
Avoalth  and  exercising  all  power;  forgetting  him  never  and 
making  all  the  vicissitudes  and  severities  of  life  conduce  to 
]jis  ultimate  unspeakable  good.  He  has  a  Saviour  in  heaven; 
one  that  died  for  him  and  washed  him  from  his  sins  in  his  own 
blood ;  his  righteous  Advocate  ever  interceding  for  him.  He 
has  a  Holy  Spirit  who  has  taken  up  his  abode  in  that  polluted 
heart  to  make  it  angelic,  spotless  and  perfect.     The  angels  of 


336  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

heaven  are  his  friends )  tliey  celebrated  the  day  of  his  con- 
version with  songs  of  transport )  they  hold  his  crippled  limbs 
so  that  he  does  not  fall ;  and  they  are  waiting  to  convey  him 
to  paradise.  All  the  saints  in  the  light  of  heaven  wait  for 
him  that  they  may  know  him  and  love  him.  He  has  promises 
more  in  nmiiber  than  it  is  possible  to  count,  and  each  so  pre- 
cious that  all  the  money  in  the  world  could  not  buy  it.  He 
has  an  inheritance  ten  thousand  times  more  magnificent  than 
the  boasted  patrimonies  of  earth.  Everlasting  life  is  his. 
His  diseased  body  shall  be  fashioned  like  unto  Christ's  glori- 
ous body.  To  all  his  other  treasures,  he  may  well  add  this 
treasure,  contentment. 

Why  art  thou  cast  down  ?  Perhaps  thine  earthly  wealth 
has  taken  to  itself  wings  and  flown.  Perhaps  some  great  man 
has  looked  disdainfully  upon  thee.  Perhaps  some  cherished 
schegie  has  been  frustrated.  Thou  hast  met  with  ingratitude. 
Some  dear  friend  has  fallen  from  thee.  Some  loved  one  has 
died.  Some  disease  has  taken  hold  of  thee.  Well,  these 
things  dispirit  the  children  of  this  world ;  for  in  losing  these 
they  lose  their  all.  But  why  should  the  loss  of  such  things 
affect  thee  ?  The  wealth  that  is  lost,  is  nothing  to  that  which 
remains  to  thee.  The  great  man  who  despises  thee  is  a  very 
insignificant  being  in  the  presence  of  certain  friends  of  thine. 
If  thou  losest  a  friend  of  earth,  thou  hast  thousands  of  glori- 
ous ones  who  will  never  fail  thee.  Thou  hast  a  throne  pre- 
pared for  thee  in  a  region  where  no  sickness  is,  where  death 
never  comes.  Thou  hast  Christ  with  all  his  unsearchable 
riches.  Wilt  thou  yet  mourn  because  of  the  crumbs  that 
have  fallen  from  thy  table  ? 

It  is  in  vain  we  talk  of  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ, 
if  we  greatly  bewail  the  disasters  of  time.  How  shall  the 
world  ever  learn  that  Christ  is  to  us  precious,  if  we  are  not 
content  with  such  things  as  we  have  in  the  world,  be  they  no 
matter  how  few,  how  mean  ? 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  337 

October  6. — "If  any  of  you  lack  wisdom  let  him  ask  of  God,  that 
giveth  to  all  men  liberally." — James  1.  5. 

Wisdom  is  tlie  last  tiling  of  the  need  of  wliieli  men  become 
sensible.  Worldly  wisdom  indeed  tliey  desire  to  have  in  larger 
measure ;  but  it  is  the  rarest  thing  in  the  world  to  see  a  man 
who  is  deeply  sensible  of  his  need  of  that  wisdom  which  God 
gives  in  answer  to  prayer.  This  only  shows  how  amazingly 
unwise  men  are.  It  is  because  they  have  not  this  wisdom  at 
all,  that  they  are  conscious  of  no  need.  Yet,  would  they  but 
know  it,  this  wisdom  would  give  them  virtually  all  that  they 
so  impetuously  seek  in  the  world.  They  long  for  a  power  by 
which  they  may  rise  superior  to  the  ills  of  life.  They  long  to 
lift  themselves  on  high  above  their  enemies.  They  long  to 
possess  themselves  of  all  the  good  things  of  life.  But  as  the 
world  is  constituted,  it  is  impossible  for  man  by  dint  of  getting 
to  satisfy  this  desire ;  or  by  quaffing  the  cup  of  plea^re  to 
attain  unto  happiness ;  or  by  clothing  himself  with  authority 
to  escape  all  human  enmity.  Let  God  however  breathe  upon 
his  soul,  let  heavenly  wisdom  become  the  tenant  of  his  heart, 
and  lo !  "  the  slings  and  arrows  of  outrageous  fortune"  fall 
harmless  at  his  feet. 

What  causes  most  of  the  misery  of  men,  is  that  their  minds 
are  chafed  and  vexed  by  something  in  their  condition.  With 
this  repugnant  something  they  enter  into  conflict  thinking  that 
if  they  can  only  banish  it,  all  will  be  well.  Perhaps  they  do 
not  succeed.  There  it  remains,  frowning  upon  them ;  and  in 
their  souls  abideth  torment.  Perhaps  after  many  struggles, 
they  get  rid  of  this  repugnant  thing;  but  scarcely  have  they 
begun  to  congratulate  themselves  upon  their  victory,  when  lo, 
on  the  opposite  side,  a  new  circumstance  wearing  the  same 
scowl,  enters  into  the  circle.  Yes,  this  earth  would  get  rid  of 
almost  all  her  burden,  and  spring  forward  like  an  unyoked 
Pegasus,  if  men  would  cease  from  battling  with  their  external 
condition,  and  seek  from  God  wisdom;  even  wisdom  to  outweigh 
29 


DAILY    MEDITATIO^^S. 


in  the  balances  of  heaven,  the  offers,  illusions,  dignities,  com- 
forts, discomforts,  losses,  trials,  troubles  of  every  day. 


October  7. — "  We  may  boldly  say,  The  Lord  is  my  helper,  and  I  will 
not  fear  what  man  shall  do  unto  me." — Hebrews  xiii.  6. 

Here  we  have  an  admirable  expression  of  Christian  confi- 
dence. It  is  pure  confidence  in  God,  viewed  as  the  source  not 
only  of  one's  own  strength,  but  of  all  strength,  so  that  there 
remains  nothing  in  the  world  worthy  to  excite  alarm.  "  The 
Lord  is  my  helper,"  saith  the  believer.  "  I  am  not  counting 
upon  some  future  alliance  with  him;  but  speak  from  a  deep  and 
satisfying  experience  of  his  presence  and  faithfulness.  I  have 
been  shorn  of  all  my  former  conceit  of  strength ;  and  have 
hearkened  to  the  proposal  of  the  Infinite  One,  a  proposal  to  be 
unto  me  strength,  wisdom,  righteousness.  On  the  day  that  I 
became  bankrupt,  I  entered  into  the  possession  of  all  riches." 

If  the  Lord  be  thy  helper,  and  if  all  the  power  of  man  is 
inferior  to  that  which  accompanies  thee,  then  why  dost  thou 
not  do  some  great,  some  world-surprising  thing  ?  Thou  hast 
no  occasion  to  fear  aught  that  man  may  attempt.  To  all  the 
waves  of  hostility  thou  art  able  to  say,  "  Thus  far  shall  ye 
come  and  no  farther."  Ride  now  victoriously  through  the 
earth  and  establish  thy  beneficent  dominion  throughout  all 
lands,  giving  men  relief  from  the  oppressions  under  which 
they  have  languished  for  so  many  ages.  A  similar  suggestion 
was  once  made  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Had  he  been  will- 
ing to  set  aside  the  will  of  God,  and  to  put  himself  under  the 
guidance  of  that  evil  spirit  of  expediency  that  rules  in  the 
counsels  of  the  princes  of  this  world,  had  he  accommodated 
himself  to  the  expectations  of  the  Jews  and  presented  himself 
as  a  temporal  and  political  Messiah,  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world  might  have  been  his,  but  he  would  have  been  simply 
the  vicegerent  of  the  God  of  this  world.  "  God  is  my  helper  : 
and  I  may  avail  myself  of  his  power  without  limit." 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  339 

But  why  does  He  help  me  ?  Because  I  have  yielded  my- 
self unto  his  guidance.  He  giveth  his  power  to  those  only 
who  first  accept  of  his  wisdom.  He  giveth  strength  to  those 
who  have  renounced  all  ambitious  and  selfish  views ;  who  have 
committed  themselves  unto  him  to  be  taught,  moulded  and 
used  by  him. 

Nevertheless,  when  we  call  to  mind  that  God  delighteth  in 
mercy ;  that  the  Lamb  of  G-od  hath  taken  away  the  sin  of  the 
world ;  that  the  Triune  God  has  a  sublime  enterprise  on  foot, 
looking  forward  to  the  transference  of  all  kingdoms  unto  his 
Son;  when  we  consider  certain  of  the  promises,  as,  for  instance, 
this,  "  Greater  works  than  these  shall  ye  do  f  and  this,  "  He 
that  overcometh  to  him  will  I  give  power  over  the  nations, 
and  he  shall  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron ;"  when  we  remember 
the  words  of  Daniel,  "  The  people  of  the  saints  of  the  most 
High  God  shall  take  the  kingdom  and  possess  the  greatness 
of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven;"  when  we  allow 
these  soul-enkindling  declarations  to  come  home  to  our  con- 
sciousness; does  it  not  seem  as  though  he,  who  in  genuine 
faith  is  able  to  speak  of  God  as  his  helper,  and  to  look  disdain- 
fully upon  all  that  man  can  do  against  him,  should  go  forth 
clothed  in  a  transcendent  power  and  obtain  some  world-wide 
display  of  the  glory  of  his  Lord  ? 

"  When  the  Son  of  Man  cometh,  shall  he  find  fliith  on  the 
earth  ?" 


October  8. — "  Hope  maketh  not  ashamed,  because  the  love  of  God  is 
shed  abroad  in  our  hearts." — Romans  v.  5. 

Alps  on  Alps  arise,  as  the  believer  presses  forward  in  his 
course.  He  beholds  a  summit,  and  exclaims,  "  My  God  will 
meet  me  there,  and  there  will  gainsayers  be  confounded." 
But  when  he  reaches  it,  he  receives  not  the  expected  testi- 
mony, and  unbelievers  make  a  mock  of  his  disappointed  hopes. 
He  would  be  troubled ;  but  in  the  absence  of  the  external  tes- 


340  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

timony,  he  receives  an  inward  sweet  assurance  of  tlie  love  and 
faithfulness  of  God,  and  in  tlie  very  hour  of  his  disappoint- 
ment, his  face  shines  with  a  singular  joy.  Looking  up  he 
sees  a  higher  mount.  Oh,  he  exclaims,  it  is  there,  not  here, 
that  God  should  meet  me.  I  rnust  reach  the  higher  summit. 
He  reaches  it,  and  it  proves  to  be  a  new  summit  of  sorrow  for 
him.  Again,  a  wave  of  heavenly  bliss  rolls  over  his  heart,  and 
lie  refuses  to  be  confounded.  A  still  higher  peak  catches  his 
aspiring  eye. 

Observe  now,  all  his  disappointments  are  real  conquests. 
Those  inferior  summits  mark  the  way  that  he  must  necessarily 
tread,  in  his  course  to  the  hill  of  transfiguration.  In  his  great 
hope  he  is  not  confounded,  only  in  his  lesser  hopes  that  lay 
hold  of  time,  place,  and  circumstance.  From  every  hill  of 
disappointment,  he  carries  off  a  rich  spoil. 


October  9. — "In  all  their  affliction  he  was  afflicted." — Isaiah  Ixiii.  8. 

AVe  need  not  feel  so  bitterly  towards  affliction,  since  we  are 
indebted  to  it  for  the  knowledge  of  this  most  wonderful  fact, 
that  our  divine  Friend  enters  into  our  sorrow  with  all  his  heart, 
and  perfectly  identifies  himself  with  us  in  our  tribulation. 
Sympathy  is  really  a  more  valuable  proof  of  love,  sometimes, 
than  the  hindrance  of  the  calamity  w^ould  have  been.  Every 
king  can  scatter  handfuls  of  gold  and  save  many  from  want ; 
but  where  is  the  king  whose  eye  melts,  whose  heart  overflows, 
in  sympathy  with  the,  sons  and  daughters  of  want  ?  Ah,  we 
liave  to  seek  in  heaven  for  such  a  king  as  this.  "  Saul,  Saul," 
he  says,  "  why  persecutest  thou  me  .^  I  have  felt  keenly  the 
reproaches  thou  hast  uttered  against  my  disciples ;  the  stripes 
inflicted  on  them  were  to  me  the  same  as  those  that  I  endured 
in  the  house  of  Pilate ;  the  drops  of  their  blood  were  precious 
to  me  as  those  that  I  myself  let  fall  from  my  own  thorn- 
wounded  head." 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  341 

October  10. — "I,  tbe  Lord^  speak  ri^liteousnc:ss.  I  declare  things  that 
are  right.'" — Isaiah  xlv.  19. 

An  incontestable  truth,  one  would  say.  "Who  will  dare  to 
deny  that  God  speaks  things  which  are  right  ?  That  were  at 
once  the  height  of  folly  and  of  guilt. 

Is  it  so  ?  Then  do  all  men  dwell  upon  the  heights  of  folly 
and  of  guilt.  They  have  built  for  themselves  permanent  hab- 
itations there.  There  are  innumerable  things  that  men  declare 
to  be  right ;  they  do  them  and  repent  not  at  the  remembrance 
of  them ;  they  commend  them  in  others ;  yet  these  things  are 
diametrically  opposite  to  the  things  that  God  sanctions.  You 
speak  of  a  becoming  pride;  God  says,  "Blessed  are  the  poor 
in  spirit."  You  say  that  men  should  not  submit  to  injuries 
and  insults.  He  says,  "  Blessed  are  the  meek."  You  think 
it  a  light  thing  when  men  neglect  religion  ;  God  says,  "  One 
thing  is  needful."  When  men  pray  much,  you  talk  of  cant 
and  hypocrisy;  God  says,  "Pray  without  ceasing."  In  a  word 
go  through  the  Bible ;  compare  its  declarations  with  your  own 
expressed  views;  and  if  you  still  insist  that  God  declares 
things  that  are  right,  you  must  admit  that  you  have  hitherto 
been  in  thought,  word  and  practice,  wrong,  wrong,  wrong  I 


October  11. — "Who  was  delivered  for  our  offences,  and  raised  again 
for  our  justification." — Romans  iv.  25. 

That  we  might  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God, 
Christ  was  delivered  into  the  hands  of  sinful  men.  He  stood 
before  an  earthly  tribunal  where  Injustice  sat  in  state,  in  order 
that  we  might  escape  the  dread  tribunal  where  infinite  Justice 
sits.  He  was  delivered  up  by  sinful  men  to  sinful  men.  Yet 
he  was  delivered  up  by  a  righteous  God,  with  his  own  glad 
consent,  to  all  the  sufferings  that  man  could  inflict.  He  that 
was  delivered  up,  was  the  only  sinless  being  that  ever  walked 
this  earth ;  was  divine  as  well  as  human ;  his  sinlessness  as  a 
29  « 


342  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

man  made  liim  a  meet  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  men ;  liis  divine 
nature  gave  infinite  value  to  his  sufi"crings,  so  that  it  became 
right  in  view  of  thtm  to  offer  all  men  deliverance  from  all  the 
woe  that  they  are  obnoxious  to,  by  sin. 

How  amazing  that  there  should  be  found  in  all  the  wide 
world  a  single  being  reluctant  to  avail  himself  of  the  expia- 
tion thus  made  for  sin.  The  utmost  eloquence  of  men,  the 
most  terrible  warnings  in  providence,  the  profoundest  experi- 
ence of  the  misery  springing  out  of  their  league  with  sin,  all 
fail  to  obtain  for  this  wondrous  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God, 
entrance  into  the  hearts  of  men.  They  say  unto  God,  day  by 
day,  hour  by  hour,  "  Thou  holy  God,  impute  unto  us  all  our 
offences.  Let  it  be  with  us  as  though  Christ  had  not  died. 
Let  there  be  no  Gethsemane  or  Calvary  for  us.  We  know  that 
we  are  not  sinless  beings  and  must  forever  drink  without  drain- 
ing the  cup  Vv-hich  threw  him  into  an  agony  of  unutterable 
Buffering;  that  we  are  not  invested  with  omnipotence,  and 
cannot  rise  from  the  grave  victorious ;  our  Calvxiry  conducts 
us  to  endless  torment.  Nevertheless  we  wish  to  appear  before 
the  tribunal  of  divine  justice  with  all  our  sins  upon  our  head. 
Had  we  any  other  wish,  we  would  express  it  by  believing  on 
Christ." 

As  for  thee,  0  semi-believer,  convinced  of  thy  sins,  sensible 
of  their  enormity,  longing  for  deliverance,  assured  that  Christ 
alone  can  give  it,  yet  stopping  there,  spending  thy  days  in 
lamentation,  imploring  grace  and  yet  neglecting  to  appropriate 
it,  why  dost  thou  live  as  though  Christ  were  still  in  the  tomb? 
The  unbeliever  lives  as  though  Christ  had  not  died;  thou 
livost  as  though  he  had  not  risen.  Repent  of  this  thy  folly,  and 
hasten  to  bear  before  the  world  thine  own  special  testimony  to 
the  truth  of  Christ's  resurrection,  by  a  joyful  trust  in  him 
that  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession. 


DAILY    MEDITATIOXS.  343 

October  12. — ''  Thou,  0  Lord,  art  a  shield  for  me." — Psalm  iii.  3. 

In  the  battle  of  this  world,  the  Christian  is  seen  without  a 
shield.  And  just  where  he  is,  is  the  thickest  of  the  fight. 
The  adversary  hurls  his  best  forces  against  that  spot,  evidently 
supposing  that  there  is  only  this  impediment  between  him  and 
victory.  It  is  wonderful  then  that  the  Christian  should  pass 
scathless  through  this  shower  of  fiery  darts.  Those  that  are 
in  the  secret  know  that — ^while  apparently  unprotected — he  is 
in  reality  defended  by  an  invisible  shield.  While  he  abides 
in  faith,  God  encompasses  him  round  about  and  nothing  can 
by  any  means  harm  him. 

The  Lord  is  a  shield  to  him  who  has  been  taught  what  are 
the  true  dangers,  what  the  true  enemies,  that  beset  the  path 
of  a  man  through  this  world — who  knows  and  is  not  ashamed 
to  confess  that  the  god  of  this  world  is  a  being  of  tremendous 
power,  with  his  servants  in  all  high  places,  with  the  wisest  and 
greatest  of  men  among  his  captives,  with  a  plenitude  of  re- 
sources, a  knowledge  of  the  heart,  that  a  mere  unaided  mortal 
can  do  nothing  against.  Formerly  he  was  the  subject  of  that 
prince.  Then  at  length  he  became  sensible  of  the  wrath  of 
(lod  that  Cometh  upon  the  ungodly.  "  Whither  shall  I  flee, 
where  shall  I  find  a  defence  ?"  became  his  cry  of  agony.  The 
sky  v^as  darkened  with  the  arrows  of  the  Almighty.  Then 
v/as  revealed  to  him  the  cross  of  Christ.  He  saw  that  the  Son 
of  God  was  himself  his  shield,  receiving  in  his  own  person  the 
storm  of  wrath  that  should  have  come  upon  him.  He  has 
now  peace  with  God.  But  he  becomes  exposed  to  the  fierce 
assaults  of  the  adversary.  In  the  world  he  has  tribulation. 
Sin  seeks  to  regain  dominion  over  him.  But  Christ  doth  not 
leave  him  nor  forsake  him.  He  is  to  him  a  sun  and  a  shield  ; 
a  sun  to  give  him  the  light  of  life,  and  a  shield  to  protect  liini 
in  the  path  of  life. 

God  is  a  shield  to  me,  says  the  believer;  to  7ne,  all  to  my- 
self    The  shield  of  my  fellow- soldier  will  be  of  little  avail  to 


344  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

me.  I  need  a  shield  that  I  can  call  my  own.  And  God,  with 
all  his  perfections,  all  his  grace,  is  mine  as  truly  as  though 
he  were  mine  alone.  All  his  promises  are  mine  as  truly  as 
though  no  one  else  had  any  interest  in  them.  All  his  provi- 
dence is  mine.  There  is  a  blessed  and  indissoluble  cOiinexion 
established  by  faith,  between  my  weakness  and  his  strength, 
my  danger  and  his  protection,  my  ignorance  and  his  guidance, 
my  sin  and  his  righteousness,  my  world-wide  necessities  and 
his  world-wide  sufficiency,  my  unlimited  aspirations  and  his 
endless  glory. 

October  13.— ''lie  will  fulfil  the  desire  of  them  that  fear  him."— rsahn 
cxlv.  19. 

Let  US  look  at  these  persons  whose  desires  are  to  be  fulfilled. 
They  are  worthy  to  be  looked  at ;  for  there  is  not  their  like 
upon  the  earth.  The  desires  of  other  men  are  their  torments, 
the  keenest  elements  of  their  misery ;  taking  them  up  to  all 
high  mountains  only  to  cast  them  deeper  down.  Other  men 
find  their  desires,  however  comely  and  angelic  they  may  at 
first  appear,  however  they  may  descend  to  them  upon  a  rain- 
bow as  from  heaven,  at  last  to  be  demons,  domiciliated  in 
their  soul  to  make  it  as  much  like  a  hell  as  may  be.  So  that 
they  are  ready  to  say,  "  Blessed  is  the  man  that  desireth 
nothing." 

There  are  some  whose  bitter  experiences  make  them  to  look 
with  wrath  upon  the  heavens  and  the  earth  that  God  has 
made.  The  language  of  their  heart,  sometimes  that  of  their 
lips,  is  this :  "  All  this  is  very  beautiful ;  but  in  all  this 
beauty  there  is  a  profound  and  hateful  snare.  The  sun 
moving  so  majestically  over  our  heads,  and  pouring  such  un- 
ceasing floods  of  marvellous  light  around  us,  says,  '  God  is  love, 
'ind  delighteth  in  mercy;  he  is  not  far  away;  he  maketh  j^our 
wants  his  care ;'  but  the  sun  only  lies  as  it  thus  speaks.  Its 
rising  and  setting,  its  magnificent  panoramas  in  the  western 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  345 

skies  at  even  tide,  its  exquisite  arrangements  of  liglit  ami 
sliade  in  vallSys  and  in  glens,  its  oare  for  ever}^  insignificant 
seed,  all  say  to  me,  '  hope  on,  hope  ever,^  but  it  is  all  a  cruel 
beguilement.  Every  tree,  every  loaf  of  a  tree,  every  pebble, 
shell,  blade  of  grass,  ripple  of  a  stream,  everything  keeps  tell- 
ing some  tale  of  the  power  and  beneficence  of  God,  but  it  is  a 
lying  tale.  The  whole  universe  is  fitted  up  as  it  were  for  the 
purpose  of  stimulating  to  the  utmost  our  desires  and  aspira- 
tions, and  strengthening  to  the  utmost  our  confidence  that 
they  will  be  gratified;  but  it  is  one  vast  imposture.  We  are  se- 
duced to  open  the  door  of  the  heart  to  a  troop  of  hopes  which 
soon  go  mad  and  lacerate  our  sensibilities  in  a  way  that  no 
language  can  express.  God  should  have  placed  us  in  a  world 
of  desolation  and  of  gloom ;  then  we  should  not  have  been  mad- 
dened through  the  influence  of  lovely  and  delusive  prospects. 
We  would  have  calculated  on  a  miserable  existence,  and  should 
have  found  it." 

Alas,  my  friend  that  you  should  speak  thus.  Do  you  really 
believe  that  God  finds  satisfaction  in  tormenting  you ;  and  that 
he  has  made  a  world  where  hope  is  the  arch-tormentor  ?  You 
have  set  out  with  one  fatal  error,  and  have  persisted  in  cher- 
ishing it.  All  things  declare  the  glory  and  the  goodness  of 
God,  and  say,  "  Hope  on,  hope  ever :"  but  to  whom  do  they 
say  it  ?  To  those  who  fear  God ;  wdio  know  him  as  their  king; 
who  take  his  word  as  a  lamp  to  their  feet;  who  repent  of  sin, 
believe  on  his  Son  and  embrace  his  promises.  All  things  shall 
work  together  for  good  to  them ;  and  after  they  are  tried  they 
shall  receive  the  promise,  shall  enter  upon  the  fruition  of  their 
highest  hopes  and  wildest  imaginings.  To  them  the  universe 
speaks,  and  there  is  no  delusion  in  its  speech.  But  to  you  its 
language  is  this :  "  Knowest  thou  not  that  the  goodness  of 
God  leadeth  thee  to  repentance  V  It  is  all  intended  to  lead 
thee,  a  contrite  and  repentant  sinner,  to  the  feet  of  God.  All 
true,  all  heaven-descended  hope  begins  at  the  cross  of  Chri.'>t. 


346  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

Seek  ye  JBrtit  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and 
all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you/^ 


October  14. — "  I  will  hear  what  God  the  Lord  will  speak." — Psalm 
Ixxxv.  8. 

Wilt  thou  indeed  ?  Art  thou  really  purposed  to  ascertain 
what  revelation  there  is  of  thy  Creator's  will  concerning  thee? 
After  many  a  long  year  of  fatal  independence  and  destructive 
self-government,  has  it  at  length  dawned  upon  thy  perception 
that  the  Being  who  made  thee,  and  who  made  all  worlds,  is, 
after  all,  the  Being  most  competent  to  decide  what  life  thou 
shouldst  lead,  most  worthy  to  he  trusted  with  the  determination 
of  thy  lot  and  the  accomplishment  of  thy  happiness  ?  After 
having  hearkened  to  every  other  speaker  and  followed  the  sug- 
gestions of  every  benighted  sinner,  wilt  thou  at  last  hear  what 
Grod  the  Lord  has  to  say  ?  Then  let  us  rejoice  over  the  auspi- 
cious hour  that  has  at  length  come  to  thee.  There  is  no 
greater  moment  in  the  whole  of  existence  than  that  in  which 
a  wayward  sinner  pauses  in  his  career  to  hear  what  God  the 
Lord  will  say. 

But  note,  that  all  this  magnanimous  determination  of  thine 
will  amount  to  nothing,  just  nothing,  if  there  be  not  in  thee  a 
willingness  to  hear  all  that  the  Lord  will  speak.  If  out  of  a 
hundred  words  of  God,  thou  fix  upon  one  and  resolve  to  honor 
it,  while  the  rest  lie  all  dishonored,  that  word  which  thou 
hearest  will  turn  against  thee,  and  in  the  last  day  bring  on 
thee  additional  condemnation.  How  many  fancy  that  they  are 
hearkening  to  God's  word,  while  all  the  time  they  are  only 
hearkening  to  their  own  hearts'  lusts.  Half  a  dozen  pages 
would  contain  all  their  Bible — theirs  truly,  not  God's. 

It  is  impossible  to  hear  what  God  the  Lord  will  speak,  while 
a  thousand  vain  voices  are  allowed  to  have  thy  attention.  There 
is  too  much  noise  in  thine  own  heart  for  thee  to  hear.     Thou 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  347 

art  too  much  busied  about  tbiiie  own  will,  to  become  acquainted 
with  tlie  will  of  God.  Tlie  Lord  will  not  lead  thee  by  the 
right  hand,  while  another  leads  thee  by  the  left. 


October  15. — "Hehealeth  the  broken  in  heart  and  bindeth  up  their 
wounds." — Psalm  clxvii.  3. 

Yet  there  are  many  that  die  of  a  broken  heart.  Some 
beautiful  dream  vanishes  after  having  lured  them  to  embark 
all  their  hopes  and  affections  upon  it-  the  phantom  vessel  dis- 
appears and  they  are  left  a  prey  to  the  angry  billows ;  but 
even  then,  would  they  but  know  it,  there  is  deliverance  for 
them.  Admit  that  all  their  hopes  are  blasted;  God,  whose 
matchless  title  is  this,  "  The  God  of  hope,"  remains.  All  the 
good  you  have  dreamed  of,  and  infinitely  more,  resides  in  him. 
God  is  not  dead ;  why  then  should  you  die  ?  The  Physician 
of  souls  rejoices  when  some  very  shattered  and  woe-worn  heart 
of  man  is  brought  to  him  to  be  healed :  he  has  then  a  peculiar 
opportunity  of  showing  what  he  can  do.  This  Physician  was 
himself  made  perfect  through  sufferings;  made  perfect  to  de- 
liver others  from  suffering.  His  heart  was  once  melted  within 
him ;  he  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions.  He  knoweth 
how  to  succor  them  that  are  tempted;  to  heal  the  broken- 
hearted. 

Have  you  lost  some  very  precious  object?  He  teaches  you 
that  all  truly  precious  things  are  precious  to  God,  and  are  to  be 
counted  as  altogether  safe  with  him  when  they  disappear  from 
your  sight.  He  then  reveals  to  you  something  of  his  own 
excellence,  his  own  preciousness,  so  that  you  are  soon  found 
rejoicing  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory.  He  does 
not  make  light  of  your  affections,  though  they  may  have  been 
erring  ;  he  makes  no  mock  of  your  broken  heart ;  your  sorrow 
is  sacred  with  him ;  but  he  brings  you  into  a  path  that  leads 
to  a  city  where  all  the  good  are  gathered  together,  and  death 
and  pain  have  no  admission. 


^48  DAILY    MEDITATIOXS. 

October  16. — "Let  us  hold  fast  the  profession  of  our  faith  without 
■wavering." — Hebrews  x.  23. 

We  have  professed  to  believe  that  God  gave  his  Son  to  bear 
our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree ;  that  God  has  accepted 
us  in  his  Son ;  that  he  is  our  heavenly  Father,  and  Christ  our 
perpetual  intercessor ;  that  not  having  spared  his  only  begotten 
Son,  he  will  with  him  also  freely  give  us  all  things ;  that  what- 
ever we  ask  according  to  his  will,  we  have  the  petitions  that 
we  desired  of  him;  that  not  one  jot  or  tittle  of  his  word  can 
pass  awa}'-.  Now  the  things  we  have  thus  professed  to  receive 
lot  us  hold  fast.  Immense  efforts  are  made  to  get  them  from 
our  grasp.  Sometimes  we  are  left  alone  for  a  season  that  we 
may  be  lulled  asleep ;  but  the  design  never  sleeps  in  the  pur- 
pose of  the  adversary.  Should  a  man  walk  through  a  crowded 
city  with  rubies,  diamonds  and  precious  pearls  sprinkled  over 
his  garments,  and  expect  that  no  attempt  will  be  made  to  snatch 
from  him  these  treasures,  his  security  will  not  be  so  much  mis- 
placed as  that  of  the  man  who,  walking  through  this  world 
vvith  the  promises  of  God  conspicuous  about  him,  fancies  that 
no  endeavor  will  be  made  to  lessen  his  store.  It  is  not  that 
the  promises  are  wanted;  but  it  is  wanted  that  men  should 
not  believe  upon  them.  When,  therefore,  you  hear  a  whisper 
to  the  effect  that  you  have  done  w^ell  in  giving  evidence  of 
yoax  zeal  and  self-denial  and  independence  of  the  world,  and 
that  now  you  may  without  any  danger  relax  a  little  in  the 
rigidness  of  your  principles,  remember  that  God  abhors  all 
v^'avering  and  instability :  hold  fast  the  profession  of  your 
faith.  Know  no  change  but  that  involved  in  progress.  Hold 
fast  what  you  have,  while  j^ou  add  to  it  what  you  lack. 


October  17. — "The  chastisement  of  our  peace  Avas  upon  him." — Isaiah 
liii.  5. 

He  rendered  satisfaction  to  divine  justice  for  the  offences 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  349 

committed  by  us,  and  exhausted  tlie  chastisement  appointed  to 
us,  so  that  we  have  reconciliation  with  God.  His  spotless 
purity  and  the  infinite  dignity  of  his  person  immensely  en- 
hanced the  value  of  his  sufferings,  so  that  without  being  the 
same  in  kind  and  in  duration  as  divine  justice  would  have  de- 
manded, had  we,  the  offenders,  been  the  sufferers,  they  were 
nevertheless  abundantly  ample  as  an  atonement  for  the  sins  of 
men.  In  fact  the  justice  and  holiness  of  God  and  the  honor 
of  his  law,  are  just  as  gloriously  illustrated  by  the  death  of 
Christ,  as  is  the  kindness  of  God  to  a  fallen  world. 

Peace  having  been  purchased  for  us  at  so  tremendous  a 
price,  the  question  remains,  Have  we  peace  ?  We  see  how  it 
is  to  be  obtained.  Let  us  see  in  the  death  of  Christ,  the  chas- 
tisement due  to  us,  in  the  cup  which  his  Father  gave  him  all 
the  wrath  due  to  our  iniquities ;  and  let  us  put  on  the  robe  of 
Christ's  immaculate  righteousness  given  us  at  the  cross.  There 
are  some  that  make  the  cross  of  Christ  an  excuse  for  sinning ; 
but  they  really  know  not  that  cross ;  they  contemplate  not  the 
real  Christ,  nor  have  any  knowledge  of  his  real  sufferings. 
Forgiveness  received  there,  actually  there,  not  at  an  imaginary 
Calvary,  forgiveness  received  in  company  with  a  sense  of  what 
was  undergone  by  Christ,  dissolves  the  power  of  sin  in  the 
soul  and  renovates  the  heart. 


October  18. — "  It  is  good  for  me  that  I  have  been  afflicted,  that  I  might 
learn  thy  statutes." — Psalm  cxix.  71. 

What  would  this  world  be  without  calamity!  Men  talk 
about  the  mystery  of  present  things.  The  mystery  would  be 
infinitely  greater,  if  there  was  no  affliction.  We  should  be 
utterly  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  make  of  the  character  of 
God,  if  unmingled  prosperity  were  the  lot  of  man.  This 
world  would  then  resemble  a  Hindoo  heaven ;  and  it  would  be 
necessary  to  suppose  Hindoo  gods  presiding  over  it,  in  order 
30 


350  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

to  get  rid  of  the  monstrous  anomaly  of  impenitent  sinners  oc- 
cupying tlie  seats  of  the  blessed. 

The  Christian  has  reason  to  thank  Grod  that  things  have  not 
been  accommodated  to  his  wishes.  When  the  mist  of  tears 
was  in  his  eyes,  he  looked  into  the  word  of  God  and  saw  mag- 
nificent things.  When  Jonah  came  up  from  the  depths  of 
ocean,  he  showed  that  he  had  learned  the  statutes  of  God. 
One  could  not  go  too  deep  to  get  such  knowledge  as  he  ob- 
tained. Nothing  now  could  hinder  him  from  going  to  Nine- 
veh. It  is  just  the  same  as  though  he  had  brought  up  from 
the  deep  an  army  of  twelve  legions  of  the  most  formidable 
troops.  The  word  of  God,  grasped  by  faith,  was  all  this  to 
him  and  more.  He  still,  however,  needed  further  affliction ; 
for  there  were  some  statutes  not  yet  learned.  Some  gourds 
were  to  wither.  He  was  to  descend  into  a  further  vale  of  hu- 
miliation. Even  the  profoundest  affliction  does  not,  perhaps, 
teach  us  everything;  a  mistake  we  sometimes  make.  But 
why  should  we  compel  God  to  use  harsh  measures  with  us  ? 
Why  not  sit  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  and  learn  quietly  what  we 
need  to  learn  ? 


October  19. — ''Blessed  is  the  man  that  endureth  temptation." — 
James  i.  12. 

Blessed  is  the  man  that  endureth  whatever  ordeal  the  Lord 
may  see  fit  that  he  should  be  Subjected  to,  for  the  discovery 
of  his  heart.  These  temptations  are  simply  processes  of  ex- 
amination ;  they  are  opportunities  which  the  Lord  giveth  us 
of  verifying  our  professions. 

To  men  that  boast  of  their  inward  goodness  and  strength, 
Providence  often  seems  to  say,  "  You  have  thought  yourself 
obliged  to  speak  of  your  own  good  qualities,  because  the  vicis- 
situdes of  your  life  were  not  such  as  to  bring  out  the  evidence 
of  these  qualities ;  but  I  will  now  so  order  events  that  your 
goodness  shall  have  a  perfect  opportunity  of  revealing  itself." 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  351 

Men  that  praise  themselves,  ought  never  to  find  any  fault  when 
disappointments  and  disasters  befal  them ;  for  if  they  indeed 
possess  that  strength  of  mind  and  superiority  of  character  of 
which  they  boast,  they  will  feel  these  trials  little  and  their  in- 
ward excellence  will  be  enabled  to  speak  for  itself.  In  their 
case  we  too  often  see  that  pride  cometh  before  a  fall.  Men 
are  continually  clamoring — without  being  aware  of  it — for 
some  severer  condition  of  life;  they  are  continually  chal- 
lenging circumstances  to  assume  a  more  forbidding  and  hostile 
attitude ;  they  find  themselves  in  an  inadequate  sphere ;  they 
are  conscious  of  virtues  that  have  never  yet  found  expression ) 
they  urge  God  (by  self-laudation)  to  put  them  into  the  fire 
and  see  if  they  will  not  come  forth  as  gold. 

Now  the  Christian  does  not  boast,  but  he  makes  a  profes- 
sion. He  professes  to  have  renounced  the  idea  of  his  own 
goodness,  and  to  be  as  dependent  on  God  for  moral  goodness 
as  for  physical.  God  says,  "It  is  well ;  but  men  will  not  be- 
lieve thee ;  I  will  put  thee  in  a  situation  calculated  to  elicit 
the  full  evidence  of  this."  The  Lord  perhaps  raises  him  then 
to  considerable  distinction ;  all  men  praise  him  -,  and  it  is  inte- 
resting to  see  the  Christian  preserving  his  humility  and  prayer- 
fulness  in  the  midst  of  this  fiery  trial.  He  professes  to  fear 
God  rather  than  man.  Then  men  bring  great  rocks  and  say, 
"  Fear  God,  by  all  means ;  all  that  we  ask  is  that  you  should 
give  up  an  infinitesimal  part  of  what  you  call  the  fear  of  God, 
and  do  our  will  in  one  most  insignificant  particular ;  otherwise 
we  will  grind  you  to  powder  beneath  these  rocks."  "  Grind," 
is  his  reply ;  and  we  see  that  his  profession  was  not  in  vain. 
He  professes  to  have  a  spirit  of  submission  to  all  the  appoint- 
ments of  the  Lord.  Then  the  Lord  proceeds  to  deal  with  him 
in  a  way  that  seems  to  him  altogether  strange  and  unaccount- 
able and  uncalled  for  ]  the  things  that  befall  him  seem  to  him 
not  to  have  been  in  the  bond  ]  it  strikes  him  that  submission 
is  hardly  the  thing  called  for  and  that  he  does  well  to  be  an- 


SbZ  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

gry.  But  happily  lie  considers  tliat  the  providence  of  God 
has  taken  this  provocative  aspect  for  the  very  purpose  of  ena- 
bling the  spirit  of  submission  in  him  to  manifest  itself  more 
unimpeachably ;  and  so  he  endures. 

I  wish  to  remember  always,  and  especially  at  the  time  when 
my  will  is  suffering  opposition,  when  a  stone  seems  to  be  given 
in  reply  to  my  request  for  bread,  that  the  stone  so  given  is 
much  better  than  bread;  the  opportunity  of  glorifying  God  by 
yielding  my  will  to  his,  is  much  more  valuable  than  the  good 
then  withheld.  Blessed  is  not  the  man  that  is  exempt  from 
trial ;  but  blessed  is  the  man  that  endures  it,  maintaining  to 
the  end  his  patience,  zeal,  hope,  love  and  joy. 


October  20. — "  "When  he  is  tried,  he  shall  receive  the  crown  of  life, 
■which  the  Lord  hath  promised  to  them  that  love  him." — James  i.  12. 

This  is  a  very  evil  world.  It  lieth  in  wickedness.  The 
Prince  of  evil  reigns  over  it.  No  wonder  the  Christian  longs 
to  take  the  wings  of  a  dove  and  flee  away  and  be  at  rest.  But 
it  is  well  for  him  to  bear  in  mind  that  in  this  very  world,  where 
the  enemies  of  God  appear  to  have  everything  their  own  way, 
there  is  wonderful  scope  given  for  the  exhibition  of  love  to 
God.  In  some  respects  heaven  cannot  equal  it.  In  heaven  it 
is  not  given  unto  love  to  declare  itself  by  suffering.  There 
are  no  reproaches  to  be  borne  there;  no  humiliations  to  be 
encountered;  no  injuries  to  be  sustained.  We  see  from  the 
example  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  how  that  even  divine  love 
itself  is  able  to  clothe  itself  with  honor  by  means  of  suffering. 
Our  only  chance  of  signalizing  our  love  to  Christ  by  long- 
suffering,  meekness  and  self-renunciation,  is  that  which  we  now 
enjoy. 

We  see  here  that  they  who  endure  temptation  are  they  who 
love  God.  We  profess  to  love  God  more  than  self  and  all  its 
possessions.     If  the  Lord  lays  upon  us  a  tax  of  one  per  cent., 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  353 

he  gives  us  to  that  extent  an  opportunity  of  showing  our 
sincerity.  If  the  tax  amount  to  ten  per  cent.,  then  the  oppor- 
tunity is  so  much  greater ;  if  to  fifty  per  cent.,  then  it  looks 
as  though  the  Lord  had  confidence  in  us.  He  takes  us  at  our 
word.  He  believes  in  our  whole-hearted  love.  And  if  the 
tax  swallow  up  everything  we  have,  and  leave  us  utterly  bank- 
rupt of  all  worldly  good,  then  let  us  consider  that  God  has 
only  taken  what  we  long  ago  recognized  as  his ;  and  let  us  call 
to  mind  that  there  is  a  precious  relation  between  the  trial  en- 
dured and  the  crown  of  life.  "  When  he  is  tried^  he  shall  re- 
ceive the  croicn  of  life!' 

There  are  some  whose  piety  is  of  so  utterly  defective  a  char- 
acter that  it  is  well  understood  beforehand  that  they  cannot 
endure  trial.  They  can  only  maintain  their  position  in  the 
church  by  the  most  tender  and  delicate  treatment.  How  then 
will  they  pass  in  safety  through  the  terrors  of  the  day  of  the 
Lord  ?  He  Cometh  with  a  rod  of  iron )  and  everything  that 
can  be  broken  in  pieces  by  that  rod  must  be  broken.  The 
bruised  reed  indeed  he  will  not  break )  he  heals  it  and  gives  it 
strength,  and  it  becomes  a  rod  in  his  hand.  He  bestows  the 
most  tender  and  delicate  treatment )  but  it  is  by  way  of  pre- 
paration for  the  trial.     And  after  the  trial,  the  croivn  of  life. 


October  21. — "He  is  long-suffering  to  us-ward,  not  willing  that  any 
should  perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to  repentance." — 2  Peter  iii.  9. 

We  read  elsewhere  of  "  God  our  Saviour,  who  will  have  all 
men  to  be  saved.^'  The  Gospel,  promulgated  for  every  crea- 
ture, is  the  expression  of  this  divine  willingness  that  men 
should  come  to  repentance.  "  Knowest  thou  not,"  says  Paul 
to  the  hardened  sinner,  "  that  the  goodness  of  God  leadeth 
thee  to  repentance  ?"  Thus  we  see  that  all  the  goodness  so 
profusely  exhibited  in  the  providence  of  God  to  men  generally, 
is  an  expression  of  God's  will  that  they  should  turn  away  from 

30   * 


354  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

their  sins  and  seek  his  grace.  Day  by  day,  during  many,  many 
years,  he  supplies  the  table  of  the  impenitent  man  with  palat- 
able and  suitable  food ;  clothes  him  and  his  with  raiment ;  fills 
his  granaries  and  his  coffers ;  and  does  it  all  not  simply  that 
he  may  meet  the  temporal  wants  of  this  sinner,  but  that  he 
may  touch  his  heart  and  lead  him  to  turn  penitently  to  his 
God.  The  sun  returns  to  the  east  day  after  day,  not  because 
a  law  of  nature  requires  it,  but  because  the  Grod  of  nature  is 
the  God  of  grace,  and  would  have  all  men  come  to  repentance. 
Many  there  are  who  reckon  confidently  upon  a  future  display 
of  the  mercy  of  God,  who  yet  are  utterly  unobservant  of  the 
mercy  now  shown.  They  seek  the  mercy  of  God  in  the  wrong- 
place,  that  is  to  say  at  the  judgment  seat;  while  they  spend 
their  days  in  treasuring  up  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath. 
They  utterly  object  to  the  doctrine  of  a  hell,  which  they  re- 
pudiate as  involving  the  sacrifice  of  God's  perfections.  Well, 
if  they  like,  there  shall  be  no  hell.  God  wishes  not  that  there 
should  be  any.  He  is  ready  to  cancel,  with  respect  to  them,* 
every  denunciation  of  future  punishment  contained  in  the 
Bible.  He  is  ready  to  exceed,  a  thousand  fold,  all  their  con- 
ceptions of  divine  goodness.  He  will  not  only  destroy,  for 
them,  the  hell  of  unquenchable  fire,  but  the  inward  hell  whose 
materials  are  heaped  up  within  their  own  heart,  the  hell  of  sin, 
which,  if  undestroyed,  will  nullify  for  them  all  the  heavens  of 
creation.  He  will  purify  them  from  all  unhallowed  affections 
and  unlawful  desires }  give  them  the  tastes  and  aptitudes  of 
heaven,  the  love  of  Christ,  the  hatred  of  sin ;  and  will  then 
give  them  to  dwell  in  the  place  for  which  he  has  fitted  them. 
God  is  not  willing  that  any  should  perish ;  his  unwillingness 
is  written  upon  the  face  of  universal  things ;  but  they  who 
come  not  to  repentance,  cannot  but  perish.  In  the  day  of  the 
flood,  the  door  of  the  ark  shall  not  be  open ;  if  you  insist  upon 
making  God  a  liar,  if  you  regard  his  prophesied  wrath  as  a 
fiction,  you  can  surely  reproach  no  one  but  yourself  when  you 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  355 

find  tliat  he  liath  spoken  truth.  If  you  flatter  yourself  with 
the  idea  that  God  will  accommodate  himself  to  your  impious 
unbelief,  and  falsify  his  own  word  to  show  that  you  were  right 
in  viewing  him  as  a  liar,  you  do  but  evince  the  amazing  and 
persistent  blindness  of  your  nature. 


October  22. — "I  abhor  myself,  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes." — Job 
xlii.  6. 

It  is  difficult  to  conceive  of  higher  testimony  than  that 
which  was  borne  to  the  character  of  Job.  To  be  distin- 
guished among  a  few,  is  as  much  honor  as  men  generally  dare 
to  aspire  to.  But  the  mere  thought  of  being  distinguished 
above  all  men  dwelling  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  is  enough  to 
intoxicate  the  soul  of  man.  Now  of  Job,  it  was  deliberately 
stated,  that  there  was  not  his  like  upon  the  earth,  a  perfect 
and  upright  man,  fearing  God  and  eschewing  evil.  And  by 
whom  was  this  testimony  borne?  By  God  himself,  by  the 
Being  that  knew  infallibly  all  men.  And  who  can  look  upon 
the  character  of  Job  without  admiration  ?  His  keen  sensi- 
bility to  reproach,  the  agony  caused  by  his  dim  intelligence  of 
what  those  providences  signified,  only  served  to  bring  out 
more  conspicuously  his  noble  trust  in  God,  his  inextinguish- 
able hopefulness.  In  the  presence  of  his  calumniators  he  held 
fiist  his  integrity;  without  at  all  meaning  to  deny  that  he  was 
a  fallible  being  dependent  for  all  on  the  mercy  of  God,  he  yet 
refused  to  admit  their  insinuations  and  allow  that  he  had  been 
living  the  life  of  a  hypocrite.  But  when  God  was  revealed  in 
his  glory,  such  a  flood  of  light  was  poured  upon  his  character, 
that  the  least  sin  seemed  too  odious  to  contemplate,  a  burden 
greater  than  his  memory  could  bear. 

As  for  thee,  0  reader,  tell  me,  hast  thou  ever  been  brought  to 
abhor  thyself?  A  flush  of  indignation  is  thy  response.  The 
very  suggestion  fills  thee  with  disgust.     0  pardon  me,  dear 


?j5G  daily  meditations. 

reader  !  It  is  evident  that  tliou  art  a  mucli  better  man  tlian 
Job.  He  was — above  all  men  that  lived  in  bis  day — a  man 
after  God's  own  heart.  But  thou  art  greatly  his  superior.  If 
God  looked  down  from  heaven  with  so  much  satisfaction,  when 
Job  inhabited  this  earth,  if  the  divine  words  of  commendation 
were  passed  from  angel  to  angel  through  all  the  celestial  ranks ; 
how  must  heaven  be  affected  as  it  looks  down  upon  thee  !  If 
tlie  miseries  of  Job  were  appointed  to  thee,  thou  wouldst  en- 
dure them  all  with  a  patience  and  a  piety  surpassing  those  of 
Job  !  Else  why  dost  thou  declare  that  thou  hast  never  known, 
will  never  know,  self-abhorrence  ? 


October  23. — ''Let  him  that  glorieth,  glory  in  this,  that  he  under- 
standeth  and  knoweth  me." — Jeremiah  ix.  24. 

This  is  an  intellectual  age.  Of  nothing  do  men  boast  more 
than  of  their  stupendous  knowledge  and  sublime  wisdom. 
They  play  with  worlds,  the  worlds  of  geology  and  astronomy. 
But  there  are  a  great  many  competitors  for  fame ;  and  out  of 
thousands  that  seek  to  be  glorified  of  men,  scarce  two  or  three 
succeed  in  attaining  an  eminent  place  in  the  world's  regard. 
It  is  surprising  that  among  the  vast  numbers  doomed  to  disap- 
pointment there  should  be  so  few  led  to  inquire  whether  there 
may  not  be  honor  to  be  obtained  in  some  other  quarter. 
What  think  you — we  would  say  to  such  a  one — what  think 
you  of  gaining  honor  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  heaven, 
of  clothing  yourself  with  distinction  among  the  sinless  ones, 
of  obtaining  an  understanding  that  will  qualify  you  to  stand 
close  to  the  very  throne  of  God  ? 

Imagine  a  temple  of  fame ;  upon  lofty  seats  are  seen  Plato, 
Cicero,  Goethe,  Kant,  Arago,  Lamartine,  Byron,  Dante  and 
many  others  of  the  world's  immortal  ones ;  an  angel  descends 
from  heaven  with  a  chaplet  of  unfading  glory;  goes  from  one 
to  another  of  these  applauded  ones  and  finally  leaves  the  tern- 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  357 

pie,  cliaplet  in  hand ;  at  tlie  foot  of  the  steps  he  sees  a  poor 
despised  creature  eating  a  crust  of  bread  and  softly  murmur- 
ing, with  a  heart  full  of  joy,  the  name  of  the  Crucified  Friend 
of  man ;  he  greets  him  with  the  utmost  respect  and  bestows  on 
him  the  chaplet. 


October  24. — "  The  Lord  gave  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away." — Job 
i.  21. 

But  if  he  gave,  why  should  he  take  away  ?  Why  does  he 
resume  what  he  has  transferred  to  another  ?  But  he  has  trans- 
ferred nothing  to  another  in  such  a  sense  that  it  has  ceased  to 
be  his  own.  The  most  exalted  of  created  beings  has  nothing 
whatever  in  this  sense.  The  kingdom  of  God  is  a  kingdom 
where  every  inch  of  the  soil  belongs  to  the  sovereign,  where 
all  the  property  belongs  to  him,  and  where  he  is  ever  at  perfect 
liberty  to  dispose  of  everything  as  he  will.  And  this  arrange- 
ment is  not  arbitrary,  but  gracious.  He  disposes  of  all  things 
with  reference  to  the  happiness  of  all. 

Men  insist  upon  being  the  sovereigns  of  what  has  been  com- 
mitted to  them.  They  hold  it  for  themselves  and  not  for  him. 
Then  when  they  lose  it  they  gnash  their  teeth  •  they  are  with- 
out consolation.  What  is  worse  than  their  loss,  they  see  a  ty- 
rant upon  the  throne  of  the  universe.  As  far  as  their  own 
misery  is  concerned,  this  tyranny  is  a  real  one.  Viewing  God 
as  a  tyrant,  and  being  ever  in  bitter  conflict  with  his  govern- 
ment, it  is  the  same  to  them,  in  respect  to  their  wretchedness, 
as  though  God  were  a  tyrant.  Therefore  Christ  says  in  the 
parable  :  "  Thou  knewest  that  I  was  an  austere  man,  gathering 
where  I  had  not  strewed."  Oh,  what  torment,  what  an  ante- 
past  of  future  woe  do  men  give  unto  themselves,  when  they 
malign  God  in  their  thoughts  ! 

On  the  other  hand,  they  who  look  upon  all  their  possessions 
as  strictly  speaking  the  possessions  of  God,  and  who  cherish  a 


358  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

perpetual  readiness  to  yield  everything  at  his  command,  sustain 
no  losses.  They  do  not  perhaps  get  broken  into  the  habit  of 
parting  company  with  loved  and  familiar  things  without  a  pang ; 
but  with  the  pang  there  is  the  consolation  of  knowing  that 
God  has  taken  his  own  for  some  sufficient  reason,  and  that  a 
God  of  boundless  goodness  still  sits  upon  the  throne  of  the 
universe. 


October  25. — "Behold  what  manner  of  love  the  Father  hath  bestowed 
upon  us,  that  we  should  be  called  the  sons  of  God." — 1  John  iii.  1. 

When  by  a  divine  rescript  we  are  designated  the  sons  of 
God,  a  pledge  is  given  that  the  following  petition  of  Christ 
shall  be  fulfilled  in  our  behalf:  "  That  the  love  wherewith  thou 
hast  loved  me  may  be  in  them."  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God ; 
but  we  are  to  be  exalted  to  his  own  height  of  glory  and  maj- 
esty ;  we  are  to  sit  with  him  upon  his  throne  ;  and  it  is  to  be 
manifest  to  all  the  universe  that  we  too  are  sons  of  God.  He 
has  this  pre-eminence  over  all,  that  he  is  what  he  is  by  virtue 
of  his  own  incomparable  merit ;  and  we  shall  be  what  we  shall 
be  by  virtue  of  the  same  merit,  not  ours  but  his.  When 
Christ  shall  appear  we  shall  be  like  him,  for  we  shall  see  him 
as  he  is. 

There  are  so  many  mere  honorary  titles  in  this  world,  that 
men  are  led  to  look  upon  the  titles  given  in  the  word  of  God, 
as  also  honorary.  But  this  is  a  serious  error.  When  God 
gives  titles,  he  bears  testimony  to  the  character  of  a  man, 
makes  known  the  man's  relation  to  Him,  and  gives  an  earnest 
of  what  he  intends  to  make  of  him.  Christ  gave  Peter,  in 
the  days  of  his  instability,  when  he  was  like  a  wave,  driven 
with  the  wind  and  tossed,  gave  him  even  then  the  title  of 
Peter,  or  rock,  foreshadowing  what  he  intended  to  make  of 
him. 

Beloved,  we  are  now  the  sons  of  God, — called  so  and  con- 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  359 

Btituted  so.  "We  have  consequently  unlimited  life,  unlimited 
wealth,  unlimited  privilege.  Much  has  been  bestowed,  much 
is  yet  to  be  bestowed.  When  God  says  to  me,  "  Thou  art  my 
son,"  he  opens  to  me  the  door  of  an  ascending  stairway  leading 
up  to  his  throne.  By  the  grace  of  God  the  steps  are  there 
before  me  and  the  liberty  to  ascend ;  but  every  several  step  is 
to  be  gained  by  an  expanding  faith,  is  to  be  conquered  by  the 
grace  of  God  in  me.  If  I  have  feeble  conceptions  of  what 
God  means  bj  calling  me  his  son,  I  shall  linger  in  the  lower 
steps ;  if  I  have  higher  and  more  correct  views  I  will  run 
boldly  up  the  pathway  of  light.  Let  me  believe  that  God  has 
gone  as  far  as  it  is  possible  for  God  himself  to  go  in  the  enun- 
ciation of  my  privileges ;  that  he  has  told  me  to  look  upon 
the  seraphim  and  cherubim  as  no  nearer  to  him  than  I  myself 
am  or  am  to  be ;  that  I  have  part  and  lot  the  most  intimate  in 
all  the  glory,  majesty,  affluence,  power  and  blessedness  of  God; 
that  my  name  is  written  along  with  his  own  over  everything ; 
that  every  being  in  the  universe  is  commanded  to  love  me 
under  pain  of  being  accounted  guilty  of  treason  against  the 
Sovereign  of  the  skies.  I  am  a  son  of  God,  and  therefore 
the  representative  of  the  invisible  God.  The  world  indeed 
knoweth  us  not,  because  it  knew  him  not.  But  there  is  to  be, 
in  an  hour  known  to  God,  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of 
God. 


October  26. — "  The  Lord  is  good  to  alL" — Psalm  cxlv.  9. 

The  Lord  is  good; — this  is  an  independent  proposition. 
He  is  good  to  the  good,  to  all  the  heavenly  companies  that  do 
his  bidding,  and  rejoice  in  his  government.  That  he  should 
be  good  to  sinners  of  earth,  habitually  violating  his  precepts, 
is  a  statement  that  goes  far  beyond  the  other.  To  a  few  of 
them  ?  To  thousands  of  them  ?  To  all  of  them  ?  He  has 
so  made  mankind  that  it  is  impossible  for  the  least  of  them 


360  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

to  exist  without  countless  specific  acts  of  kindness  shown  by 
God.  Even  corporeal  life,  what  does  it  involve?  Processes 
of  infinite  number  and  variety.  Was  it  an  act  of  surprising 
kindness  on  the  part  of  Christ  to  give  sight  to  the  blind,  and 
is  it  nothing  that  God  should  this  day  continue  to  you  this 
wonderful  faculty  ?  Is  there  any  less  wisdom,  power  or  good- 
ness displayed  in  the  preservation  of  an  organ  than  in  the  be- 
stowing of  it  ?  Physiology  will  tell  you  there  is  not.  Look 
then  at  your  various  faculties  and  members  and  susceptibilities 
and  tastes ;  at  your  physical  and  mental  endowments ;  and  un- 
derstand that  the  multitude  of  God's  thoughts  towards  you  in 
a  single  hour  are  so  many  that  they  could  not  be  expressed  in 
the  largest  volume  ever  written.  If  you  are  afi'ected  by  this 
consideration,  then  extend  your  gaze  beyond  yourself  and  see 
the  lines  of  relationship  by  which  God  has  brought  all  things 
to  your  door.  In  some  far  ofi"  field  you  see  grain  growing,  so 
that  in  some  future  day  that  appetite  of  yours  may  be  regaled. 
And  that  grain  is  waited  upon  by  universal  nature.  The  very 
stars  have  a  commission  to  care  for  it. 

God  is  thus  good  to  all.  AVere  it  not  that  he  opened  his 
hand,  the  desire  of  no  living  creature  would  be  satisfied. 
Well,  therefore,  may  the  Psalmist  say,  "  Let  everything  that 
hath  breath  praise  the  Lord."  Mankind,  however,  are  far 
from  doing  thus.  Judging  from  the  murmurs,  loud  com- 
plaints, deep  curses,  reproaches,  expressions  of  surprise,  re- 
pinings,  sighs,  groans,  tears,  looks  of  vexation  and  disappoint- 
ment, from  all  the  tokens  of  dissatisfaction  that  meet  us  on 
every  side,  we  can  only  conclude  that  men  look  upon  God  as 
the  very  opposite  of  good  to  them.  They  have  no  mind  for 
the  eulogy  of  God.  "  Let  everything  that  hath  breath  praise 
the  Lord,"  says  the  Psalmist;  but  his  exhortation  is  in  vain. 
The  hearts  of  men  may  glow  with  admiration  sometimes ;  but 
God  is  not  the  object.  And  nothing  is  gained  by  the  aug- 
mentation of  benefits.     Generally  indeed  the  more  marked  the 


DAILY   MEDITATION'S.  361 

goodness  of  God  to  them,  the  less  they  are  disposed  to  praise 
him.  What  then  is  to  be  done  ?  Could  the  difficulty  in  their 
heart  be  removed,  could  they  be  recovered  from  the  dominion 
of  sin,  then  would  they  rejoice  in  him,  and  even  the  least 
mercy  would  fill  them  with  rapture.  This  is  what  God  in  his 
goodness  has  done.  He  hath  provided  a  Saviour,  through 
whom  men  may  escape  from  that  horrid  heart  of  theirs  which 
swallows  up  the  goodness  of  God  like  a  mighty  Maelstrom ;  he 
has  commanded  his  gospel  to  be  preached  to  every  creature. 


October  27. — "That  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also." — John  xiv.  3. 

Lord,  is  this  thy  desire  ?  Didst  thou  take  such  a  desire  as 
this  to  heaven  with  thee  ?  When  thou  wert  parted  from  thy 
disciples  and  a  cloud  was  about  to  receive  thee  out  of  their 
sight,  were  these  sweet  and  love-expressing  words  still  hover- 
ing on  thy  lips  ?  When  thou  didst  ascend  up  far  above  all 
principality  and  power,  and  might  and  dominion,  when  the 
hosts  of  heaven  clustered  gladly  and  adoringly  around  thee, 
were  thine  eyes  still  fixed  on  us,  and  did  the  desire  still  pre- 
dominate in  thy  heart,  that  where  thou  art,  there  we  might  be 
also  ?  Did  this  desire  still  follow  thee  to  the  throne  where 
thou  rulest  heaven  and  earth  ?  Has  it  kept  possession  of  thy 
breast  during  all  these  ages?  And  now  that  thou  art  sur- 
rounded by  thy  Daniels  and  Pauls,  Elijahs  and  Johns,  Abra- 
hams and  Peters,  Luthers  and  Wesleys,  Whitefields  and  Brain- 
erds,  is  there  this  still  wanting  in  the  cup  of  thy  blessedness, 
namely,  that  we  thy  saints  on  earth  should  be  with  thee,  where 
thou  art  ?  Then,  0,  our  loving  Lord,  help  us  to  reciprocate 
this  desire,  to  set  our  afiections  on  high,  to  lay  aside  every 
weight  and  run  the  race  before  us.  Make  us  rapidly  meet  for 
the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light.  Walk  with  us  in  our 
wilderness,  that  we  may  walk  with  thee  in  the  place  of  thy 
glory. 


362  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

October  28. — "  I  will  run  the  way  of  thy  commandments,  when  thou 
shalt  enlarge  my  heart." — Psalm  cxix.  32. 

God  enlarges  our  heart  by  taking  away  from  it  the  idea  of 
our  own  righteousness  and  of  our  own  strength ;  by  taking 
away  from  us  hardness  of  heart  and  insensibiHty ;  by  deliver- 
ing us  from  the  oppressive  fear  of  an  oJGfended  God ;  by  cast- 
ing out  a  great  deal  of  selfishness ;  by  breathing  into  us  the 
new  life  of  faith  in  Christ,  and  making  us  buoyant  with  the 
delightful  assurance  of  God's  uudeclining  favor ;  by  the  love 
of  God  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts. 

Then  no  wonder  that  we  run  the  way  of  his  commandments. 
These  are  no  longer  grievous,  for  they  are  paired  with  prom- 
ises ;  and  with  every  indication  of  duty  there  is  an  indication 
of  help.  We  run ;  we  have  not  now  to  be  dragged.  It  is  no 
longer  the  place  of  task ;  it  is  the  place  of  pleasant  commu- 
nion and  co-operation  with  him  who  has  said,  "  Without  me 
ye  can  do  nothing."  The  way  of  his  commandments,  is  sim- 
ply a  way  where  love  finds  beautiful  opportunities  of  express- 
ing itself 

But  alas !  are  there  not  many  among  us  that  need  greatly 
to  have  their  hearts  enlarged  ?  Their  pace  in  the  divine  course 
is  not  even  a  fast  walk.  What  is  it  that  chokes  their  hearts  ? 
Here  is  a  brother,  whose  heart  is  choked,  we  have  too  much 
reason  to  fear,  by  an  all-absorbing  and  exclusive  attachment  to 
"  The  Church  f  and  who  is  not  aware  how  unkind  a  part  he 
is  acting  toward  that  very  branch  of  Christ's  Church  which 
he  thus  ignorantly  and  injuriously  idolizes.  Here  is  a  brother 
whose  heart  is  choked  by  a  false  charity  which  inclines  him  to 
regard  all  men  as  pretty  nearly  safe,  and  not  in  need  of  his 
self-denying  efforts.  How  many  have  their  hearts  so  occupied 
by  mercantile  matters  or  political  questions,  that  it  is  impossi- 
ble for  them  to  make  haste  in  the  doing  of  Christ's  command- 
ments. 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  363 

October  29. — "And  rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God." — Romans 
V.  2. 

Happy  the  soul  that  is  able  to  find  its  joy  in  the  indulgence 
of  such  a  hope  as  this.  Fallen  man  rejoices  in  hope  of  his 
own  glory;  not  of  his  own  true  glory,  but  of  a  false  and 
worldly  glory,  utterly  disconnected  with  the  glory  of  Grod. 
That  soul  is  already  largely  redeemed  that  has  learned  to  iden- 
tify its  own  interests  with  the  glory  of  God.  And  this  hope 
shall  be  fulfilled ;  nothing  is  more  certain.  The  glory  of  God 
must  go  forth  triumphant  one  of  these  days,  and  conquer  all 
the  detestable  glory  that  men  and  devils  have  been  bringing 
like  a  pall  of  bedizened  sackcloth  over  the  face  of  universal 
things. 

The  Christian  is  even  now  greatly  conversant  with  the  glory 
of  God ;  but  the  more  that  he  knows  of  it  the  more  passion- 
ately does  he  long  for  that  moment  when  it  shall  be  manifested 
with  all  its  appropriate  sublimity ;  when  every  eye  shall  see 
it ;  when  the  idolized  ones  of  earth  shall  hide  their  heads  in 
caves  and  dens;  when  Christ  shall  be  admired  in  his  believers; 
when  they  shall  be  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  their  bodies 
made  like  unto  Christ's  glorious  body ;  when  the  New  Jerusa- 
lem shall  come  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  having  "  the 
glory  of  God." 

October  30. — "  I  will  strengthen  thee,  yea,  I  will  help  thee,  yea,  I  will 
uphold  thee  with  the  right  hand  of  my  righteousness." — Isaiah  xli.  10. 

Even  in  the  giving  of  promises,  God  has  made  manifest  that 
he  giveth  liberally  and  upbraideth  not.  The  necessity  of  re- 
iterating promises,  is  sometimes  irksome  to  us ;  we  want  people 
to  take  us  at  our  word.  But  God  knows  the  stupendous 
strength  of  unbelief  in  the  heart  of  man.  If  a  mountain  of 
granite  is  to  be  reduced  to  powder  by  successive  strokes  of  an 
instrument,  there  must  be  a  vast  number  of  strokes.  If  we 
wish  to  form   some   conception  of  the  nature  of  unbelief  let 


364  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

US  look  at  the  miglity  stores  of  promise  accumulated  with  a 
view  to  its  overthrow.  The  guilt  of  it,  who  can  tell  ?  God 
says,  "  I  will  strengthen  thee  f  yet  we  dare  not  go  forward 
without  a  weapon.  He  says,  "  I  will  help  thee ;"  yet  we  lie 
down  miserable  if  there  be  no  provision  in  the  house  for  the 
morrow's  wants.  He  says,  "I  will  uphold  thee;"  yet  we 
shrink  from  taking  up  some  responsibility  pointed  out  to  us  by 
him.  "  I  will  uphold  thee,"  he  says,  "  by  the  right  hand  of 
my  righteousness ;  I  pledge  my  own  infinite  ability  that  thou 
shalt  prevail ;  I  pledge  my  righteousness ;  so  that  if  I  uphold 
thee  not,  my  righteousness  remains  to  me  no  more  :  my  justice 
is  forfeited ;  I  am  become  like  the  gods  of  the  heathen,  un- 
holy, not  to  be  relied  on.     Wilt  thou  make  me  such  a  one  ?" 

Oh,  that  Christians  would  consider  how  grossly  they  asperse 
the  character  of  God  and  misrepresent  him  to  the  world,  by 
failing  to  embrace  and  act  upon  these  exceeding  great  and 
precious  promises. 


October  31. — "  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of  Christ." — Rom.  i.  16. 

This  seems  a  very  moderate  declaration  of  attachment  \  but 
very  few  can  go  so  far  as  this.  The  gospel  of  Christ  is  the 
word  that  sets  forth  Christ.  It  is  nothing  apart  from  Christ. 
As  He  is  honorable,  so  is  it ;  as  He  is  excellent,  so  is  it.  To 
be  ashamed  of  it,  is  to  be  ashamed  of  Him. 

Are  you  ashamed  to  speak,  look,  and  act  in  such  a  way  as 
to  show  your  conviction  that  you  and  all  men  are  lost  sinners 
until  recovered  by  the  grace  of  God ;  and  that  you  are  depend- 
ent upon  this  grace  for  all  power  to  conquer  sin,  resist  tempta- 
tion, know  the  truth  ?  You  flatter  yourself  that  you  are  not 
ashamed  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  because  when  you  are  with 
Christians,  you  laud  Christ ;  but  on  other  occasions  you  keep 
back  the  "  one  thing  needful,''  and  give  unscriptural  promi- 
nence to  the  many  things  not  vitally  needful.    Are  you  willing 


DxVILY    MEDITATIONS.  365 

to  speak  as  Christ  spoke ;  to  express  the  opinions  expressed 
by  the  Son  of  God ;  to  talk  in  promiscuous  companies  of  the 
necessity  of  cutting  oflf  a  right  hand,  plucking  out  a  right  eye ; 
to  make  mention  of  unquenchable  fires,  and  a  never-dying 
worm ;  to  tell  men  that  except  they  repent,  they  shall  all  like- 
wise perish ;  and  to  discourse  of  the  mansions  in  the  skies,  and 
the  return  of  Christ  to  judge  mankind  ?  If  our  conversation 
is  quite  of  another  character,  if  reference  to  these  things  is 
never  or  seldom  made  by  us,  is  there  not  the  strongest  rea- 
son to  believe  that  we  are  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  ? 
In  fact,  the  presence  of  gospel  truth  in  very  many  societies 
where  Christians  are  frequently  found,  would  be  as  startling  as 
the  presence  of  Christ  himself  We  are  not  even  conscious  of 
the  humiliating  defeats  that  we,  professors  of  the  gospel,  have 
sustained. 

November  1. — "Thou,  Lord,  wilt  bless  the  righteous." — Psalm  v.  12. 

Having  bestowed  righteousness,  thou  wilt  express  thy  plea- 
sure in  that  righteousness.  We  should  not  need  a  revelation 
from  heaven  to  tell  us  this.  It  ought  to  be  an  unquestionable, 
self-evident  axiom,  that  God  who  has  all  gifts  at  his  disposal, 
will  bestow  his  best,  gifts  upon  those  who  please  him  most. 

But  there  is  none  righteous,  no,  not  one.  Well,  in  the  ab- 
solute sense  of  the  word,  Christ  is  the  only  righteous  one  that 
ever  sojourned  on  this  earth.  He  knew  no  sin.  But  they  that 
believe  on  him,  their  faith  is  counted  to  them  for  righteousness. 
They  receive  of  his  fullness.  Through  him  the  unjust  are 
justified.  Amd  having  been  brought  nigh  to  God,  what  is  to 
hinder  that  they  should  obtain  deliverance  from  sin  ?  They 
ask  and  receive.  They  are  changed  into  the  image  of  Christ, 
God  blesses  them  by  bringing  their  wills  into  coincidence  with 
his  own  ;  and  then  their  ulterior  blessedness  becomes  a  thing 
as  inevitable  as  the  eventual  triumph  of  the  will  of  God, 

It  is  because  a  man  has  no  goodness  of  his  own  on  which  to 
31  « 


366  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

build  any  hope,  that  he  is  enabled  so  assuredly  to  anticipate 
the  very  highest  measure  of  blessedness  of  which  it  is  possible 
to  conceive.  For  consider,  the  righteousness  on  which  his 
hopes  are  founded,  is  an  infinite  righteousness ;  the  merit  of 
all  heavenly  beings  added  together  would  make  nothing  ap- 
proaching it.  AVhile  a  man  clings  to  the  idea  of  his  own 
merit,  he  shrivels  up  his  destiny  into  nothing  3  when  he  loses 
that  idea  and  knows  nothing  but  the  merit  of  Christ,  crucified 
for  sinners,  the  Lord  of  all,  his  destiny  expands  into  a  roll  like 
that  of  the  illimitable  heavens,  all  written  over  with  words  of 
beauty  and  of  wealth. 

"  Thou^  Lord^  wilt  hless  the  rigliteous."  It  does  not  becomo 
a  sovereign  to  bestow  little  favors.  As  Grod  has  shown  forth 
his  eternal  power  and  Godhead  in  creation,  so  in  what  he  will 
do  for  the  righteous,  he  will  take  care  that  there  be  a  magnifi- 
cent  and  all-eclipsing  display  of  his  regard  for  righteousness. 

What  we  need  is,  ever  to  believe  that  Grod  ever  remembers 
-this  purpose  of  his;  and  to  say,  in  every  situation  of  life,  God 
is  blessing  me,  by  preparing  me  for  future  blessing.  While 
Christ  is  preparing  for  me  a  place  in  heaven,  he  is  preparing 
me  on  earth  for  that  place  in  heaven.  There  is,  therefore,  a 
connection  of  the  most  intimate  and  necessary  kind  between 
the  disappointments,  humiliations,  losses,  sorrows,  afflictions 
of  the  believer  on  earth,  and  the  dignity,  felicify,  purity, 
splendor,  power,  to  be  found  by  him  at  the  right  hand  of 
Christ. 


November  2. — ''Unto  you  therefore  -wliicli  believe,  he  is  precious." — 
1  Peter  ii.  7. 

Before  you,  seated  in  the  cavern  of  this  world,  the  wizard 
of  this  world  causes  to  appear,  one  after  another,  scenes  of 
beauty,  dissolving  scenes  that  scarce  have  presented  themselves 
to  your  vision  before  they  have  gone,  leaving  you  in  darkness. 
The  wizard  shows  them  to  you  that  he  may  bind  you  to  him- 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  367 

self  forever.  "All  these  things  will  I  bestow  upon  you,"  he 
says,  "  if  you  fall  down  and  worship  me."  "  The  realities  are 
in  my  chambers,"  he  says ;  "I  give  them  to  whomsoever  I 
will."  Infatuated  man,  madly  pursuing  these  vanished  vi- 
sions, descends  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  region  of  death  and 
despair.  Happy  he,  unutterably  happy,  if,  ere  it  be  too  late,  his 
eyes  be  anointed  with  a  celestial  eye-salve  and  he  discover  that 
all  the  glorious  visions  that  ever  darted  across  his  path  or  il- 
lumined his  conceptions,  when  they  dissolved  as  visions  be- 
came reconstituted  as  realities  in  Christ.  Yes,  this  is  the 
wondrous  knowledge  that  the  believer  obtains  by  faith.  All 
exquisite  music  died  out  in  Christ,  to  live  in  him  forever ;  all 
beautiful  sunsets  vanished  not  into  night,  but  into  the  blessed 
reality  of  Christ ;  all  lovely  flowers  faded  to  bloom  perennially 
in  him ;  the  smile  of  youth,  the  look  of  love,  the  scintillation 
of  genius,  the  burst  of  eloquence,  everything  that  lent  a  mo- 
mentary radiance  to  life,  has  its  apotheosis  in  Christ,  is  found 
in  him  by  the  believer. 

Christ  is  precious  to  me,  because  I  believe  that  the  beauty 
and  attractiveness  of  all  admirable  things  owe  their  charm  to 
him,  and  yield  their  charm  to  him.  They  crossed  my  path 
that  they  might  speak  to  me  of  him.  My  enthusiasm  stag- 
gered like  a  drunken  man  in  the  pathway  of  this  world,  and 
only  knew  its  vocation  when  it  discovered  him. 

When  he  cometh,  the  new  Jerusalem  cometh ;  the  paradise 
of  God  cometh j  the  river  of  the  water  of  life;  saints;  angels; 
the  new  heaven ;  the  new  earth;  all  beauty,  all  splendor,  all 
sanctity;  the  fruition  of  all  right  desires,  the  realization  of  all 
lovely  dreams ;  love ;  in  a  word  all  that  is  precious  cometh ;  nor 
will  it  ever  after  be  possible  for  me  to  conceive  of  a  good  not 
found  in  the  legion  irradiated  by  his  smile. 


3G8  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

November  3. — "  Comfort  ye,  comfort  ye  my  people,  saith  your  God." — 
Isaiah  xl.  1. 

And  liow  were  the  servants  of  God  to  comfort  the  people  of 
God  ?  By  telling  them  of  Christ.  This  became  the  burden 
of  Isaiah's  prophecies,  as  recorded  in  the  fortieth  chapter  and 
onwards;  and  all  the  prophets  his  successors  continued  this 
strain.  This  was  the  banquet  that  God  saw  fit  to  provide  for 
his  ancient  people.  They  demanded  other  comfort,  and  de- 
manded in  vain.  AYhen  Jesus  himself  appeared,  they  refused 
to  accept  the  comfort ;  they  saw  no  beauty  in  him  that  they 
should  desire  him.  They  asked  for  one  that  should  deliver 
them  from  the  Roman  yoke;  make  them  honorable  and  power- 
ful above  all  nations;  and  spread  a  favoring  mantle  over  all  their 
sins.  They  would  none  of  God's  comfort.  But  the  banquet 
which  they  scorned  to  honor  with  their  presence,  was  not  left 
without  guests ;  the  broken  and  contrite  of  all  nations,  the  po- 
verty-stricken, the  sick,  the  blind,  these  came  and  partook ; 
and  lo !  they  were  comforted,  they  were  made  whole  and 
crowns  of  everlasting  joy  were  seen  upon  their  heads;  while 
the  rejecters  soon  found  themselves  the  poorest  and  unhappiest 
in  creation,  deprived  of  the  very  shadows  which  they  had  pre- 
fer^'ed  to  the  substance. 

We  are  to  comfort  God's  people  by  presenting  Christ  to 
them,  and  showing  them  their  need  of  this  very  Messiah  and 
no  other.  And  if  they  are  unwilling  to  be  comforted  in  this 
Way,  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  give  them  comfort  in  any  other 
way.     Any  other  way  is  a  way  of  delusion. 


November  4. — "■  Surely  goodness  and  mercy  shall  follow  me  all  the  days 
of  my  life." — Psalm  xxiii.  6. 

When  Love  divine  was  about  to  follow  Christ  back  to  heaven, 
he  said,  "  Not  so ;  I  am  no  more  in  the  world,  but  these  are  in 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  369 

the  world."     So  this  Love  lias  ever  since  tarried  witli  tlie  people 
of  God. 

The  Christian  knows  that  goodness  and  mercy  shall  go  with 
him  all  the  days  of  his  life,  as  two  attendant  angels.  He 
knows  that  they  have  followed  him  hitherto.  But  it  is  some- 
times difficult  for  him  to  perceive  that  they  are  with  him. 
When  Jeremiah  was  in  that  deep,  dark  dungeon,  where  there 
was  no  water,  but  mire,  it  seemed  as  though  goodness  and 
mercy  had  left  him  and  gone  to  walk  on  the  battlements  of 
Jerusalem.  Men  came  to  the  border  of  that  pestilential  pit 
and  asked  him  mockingly  where,  those  companions  of  his  now 
were.  But  Jeremiah's  eyes  getting  accustomed  to  the  darkness 
soon  discovered  them  there.  They  gave  him  some  bread  of 
heaven  to  eat.  Then  when  Jerusalem  was  taken,  and  the 
proud  enemies  of  the  prophet  were  carried  into  captivity,  Jer- 
emiah remained  in  the  land )  goodness  and  mercy  followed  him 
all  his  days.  Persecution  is  not  so  persevering  as  they  are. 
When  Elijah  was  under  the  juniper-tree,  goodness  and  mercy 
awoke  him  and  ministered  unto  him.  "  Why  do  you  flee  for 
your  life  ?"  they  said ;  "  have  we  fled  from  thee  ?"  "  I  do 
well  to  be  angry,"  said  Jonah,  insulting  these  heavenly  attend- 
ants to  their  face.  He  said  to  goodness,  "  Thou  art  an  impos- 
tor, not  goodness,  but  unkindness  :"  and  to  mercy,  "  Thou  art 
severity,  thou  hast  no  beauty,  get  thee  gone."  Did  they  follow 
him  still  ?  They  sat  down  and  said  to  him,  "  We  will  not  go." 
They  might  have  spoken  of  the  depths  of  the  sea  whither  and 
whence  they  had  accompanied  him ;  but  they  spoke  to  him  of 
the  much  cattle  that  was  in  Nineveh,  and  of  an  immense  num- 
ber of  innocent  little  children. 

How  often  have  I  been  ready  to  use  the  language  of  Jonah ; 
how  often  frowned  on  these  celestial  ones,  and  motioned  them 
angrily  away,  because  they  would  not  take  the  form  my  fancy 
painted :  yet  have  they  still  followed  me.  Be  astonished,  0 
earth ! 


370  DAILY   MEDITATIOXS. 

November  5. — "As  the  heaven  is  high  above  the  earth,  so  great  is  his 
mercy  toward  them  that  fear  him." — Psalm  ciii.  11. 

Perfect  love  castetli  out  fear ;  but  not  the  fear  "here  spoken 
of.  There  is  no  torment  in  this  fear.  It  is  at  home  in  com- 
pany with  the  most  unlimited  confidence.  The  man  that  trusts 
in  God  is  the  same  as  the  man  that  fears  God ;  the  two  expres- 
sions are  convertible,  and  are  over  and  over  interchanged  in 
the  word  of  God.  Let  the  man  that  thinks  he  fears  God,  see 
to  it  that  he  trusts  in  God :  and  let  the  man  that  thinks  he 
trusts  in  God,  see  to  it  that  he  fears  God. 

He  fears  God  who  has  a  high  sense  of  the  value  of  his 
favor,  and  cannot  bear  that  any  cloud  should  come  in  for  a 
moment  between  his  conscience  and  the  smile  of  God.  He 
that  is  most  assiduous  in  the  endeavor  to  please  God ;  who  is 
most  distressed  at  the  thought  of  his  displeasure ;  he  to  whom 
his  commandments  are  not  grievous ;  who  beholds  with  satis- 
faction all  the  attributes  of  God ;  he  it  is  that  fears  God.  You 
observe  that  this  fearer  of  God  is  in  the  enjoyment  of  God's 
infinite  mercy;  so  that  the  spring  of  his  devotion  is  not  the 
apprehension  of  wrath.  The  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  his 
heart  leads  him  to  fear  God. 

How  much  David  knew  of  the  height  of  the  heavens,  what, 
estimate  he  formed  of  the  distance  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  we 
know  not.  Doubtless  he  viewed  them  as  at  distances  more  vast 
than  any  that  separate  the  different  points  of  the  earth's  sur- 
face. He  would  have  heard  with  much  surprise  a  statement 
to  the  efiect  that  a  journey  of  four  hours  performed  at  the  rate 
of  the  velocity  of  light,  200,000  miles  a  second,  would  take 
us  only  to  the  outskirts  of  our  system;  a  journey  of  three  or 
four  years  would  take  us  to  the  first  fixed  stars ;  a  journey  of 
60,000  years  would  take  us  to  the  stars  of  a  certain  distant 
nebula;  and  that  we  should  even  then  be  probably  in  the  lower 
parts  of  creation.  What  would  have  been  the  effect  of  such 
a  revelation  as  this,  upon  his  mind  ?     His  conceptions  of  the 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  371 

power,  wisdom,  majesty,  immensity  of  God,  would  have  been 
vastly  augmented ;  but  think  you  that  his  conceptions  of  the 
mercy  of  God  would  have  not  been  elevated  ?  They  would 
have  been  elevated ;  for  the  mercy  of  God  is  in  the  nature  of 
God ;  grows  as  that  grows  upon  us,  expands  as  that  expands 
before  us ;  and  when  through  Christ  we  have  entered  into 
relation  to  it,  every  star  becomes  an  exponent  of  it,  every 
insterstellar  space  a  link  in  the  endless  chain  that  measures  it. 


November  6. — "  As  far  as  the  east  is  from  the  west,  so  far  hath  he  re- 
moved our  transgressions  from  us." — Psalm  ciii.  12. 

Among  those  who  read  the  Bible,  how  small  a  proportion, 
what  an  insignificant  minority  are  the  broken  and  contrite  in 
heart !  How  rare  a  thing  it  is  to  see  a  man  who  is  bowed  down 
beneath  a  sense  of  his  sinfulness,  and  who  finds  it  difficult  to 
conceive  that  there  should  ever  be  pardon  for  him !  How 
small  the  number  of  such  ! 

Now  see  what  honor  God  has  put  upon  these  few.  A  great 
deal  of  his  word  seems  to  be  intended  just  for  them.  God,  so 
to  speak,  passes  by  the  crowds  of  those  who  are  comfortable 
in  spirit  and  have  an  easy  faith  in  the  mercy  of  God,  to  come 
to  some  poor  faltering  sinner  and  convince  him  of  the  freeness 
and  unmeasured  fulness  of  divine  mercy.  You  and  I  must 
often  see  that  the  word  of  God  is  not  troubling  itself  about 
us,  but  about  some  deeply-convicted,  hesitating,  trembling  soul. 


November  7. — "  Keep  thy  heart  with  all  diligence." — Proverbs  iv.  23. 

Keep  that  which  is  good,  in  it ;  that  which  is  evil,  out : 
thoughts,  feelings,  purposes,  imaginations,  desires.  Especially, 
keep  God's  word  in  it.  Quench  not  the  Spirit.  Cherish  a 
memory  for  what  is  good.     Be  as  a  gardener ;  be  as  a  banker. 

For  the  mind  is  God's  wonderful  gift. 


372  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

As  our  tliouglits,  so  our  words  and  acts. 

As  our  thoughts,  so  our  future  life. 

Be  as  the  pilot. 

Therniopylse. 

Our  peace  easily  destroyed  by  unwatchfulness. 

God  looks  at  the  heart. 

Has  given  us  suitable  objects  to  think  about, — to  love. 


November  8. — "  The  water  that  I  shall  give  him,  shall  be  in  him  a  well 
of  water  springing  up  into  everlasting  life." — John  iv.  14. 

"  Art  thou  able,  0  Christ,  to  slake  the  thirst  of  my  soul  ? 
Dost  thou  know  what  strength  of  desire  there  is  in  me  ?  Con- 
sider what  seas  of  goodness  have,  in  the  providence  of  Grod, 
been  poured  upon  me  without  in  the  least  diminishing  the 
force  of  aspiration  within  me.  Whatever  is  given,  seems  only 
to  stimulate  my  imagination  and  send  it  soaring  a  higher  flight. 
Thus  it  would  appear  that  in  the  very  nature  of  things  I  never 
can  know  satisfaction.  Give  me  everything  that  I  can  now 
conceive  of,  and  scarcely  will  I  have  looked  upon  it  before  my 
conception  has  found  its  wings  again ;  and  where  my  concep- 
tion goes  there  also  goes  my  desire.  How  then  canst  thou  give 
me  water  to  quench  the  thirst  of  my  soul  ?  Knowest  thou 
my.  soul  and  her  thirst  ?     Where  hast  thou  that  water  ?" 

He  that  formed  thee  knoweth  thee.  Thy  conception  cannot 
exceed  the  conception  of  God ;  must  indeed,  even  in  its  wildest 
flight,  fall  infinitely  short  of  it.  Thine  is  a  conception  of 
desire ;  his  is  a  conception  relating  to  the  satisfaction  of  that 
desire.  Wonderful  therefore  as  thou  art  in  thy  mental  con- 
stitution, gigantic  as  is  the  power  of  aspiration  in  thee,  He 
that  made  thee  is  infinitely  more  wonderful.  It  would  indeed 
have  been  the  greatest  mistake  on  his  part,  to  make  a  creature 
with  a  power  of  conception  which  he  himself  could  not  over- 
take.    He  has  made  no  such  mistake  as  this.     All  his  perfec- 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  373 

tions  testify  that  lie  is  able  to  satisfy  thee.  Let  it  be  therefore 
firmly  settled  in  your  mind  that  there  is  no  absolute  and  invin- 
cible difficulty  in  the  way  of  your  blessedness. 

There  is  a  disordered  thirst  that  nothing  can  assuage.  The 
torment  remains,  however  often  or  abundantly  you  answer  the 
call  of  the  patient  for  water.  Oh,  if  you  could  give  him  some 
water  that  would  reach  the  seat  of  his  disease,  subdue  his  fever, 
and  recover  him  from  that  mad  disordered  thirst,  you  would 
approve  yourself  the  very  physician  that  he  needs.  Now  this 
is  what  Christ  does.  He  knows  well  that  if  he  gave  thee  all 
wealth,  all  luxury,  all  art,  all  renown,  all  success,  all  power,  all 
beautiful  sights  and  sounds,  yet  would  not  these  unbounded 
largesses  tend  in  the  least  to  slake  the  thirst  of  thy  soul  for 
happiness.  But  the  water  that  he  giveth  thee,  goes  to  thy 
soul  and  cures  the  terrible  disease  that  has  made  havoc  of  thy 
life ;  changes  the  character  of  thy  desire ;  causes  to  spring  up 
in  thee  emotions  and  affections  corresponding  to  the  wise  and 
loving  thoughts  of  God  -,  and  then  satisfies  these  desires. 

Has  the  water  that  Christ  has  given  thee  become,  0  Chris- 
tian, a  well  in  thee  ?  Hast  thou  within  thyself  a  well  of  pe- 
rennial purity  and  bliss,  of  beautiful  thoughts,  delight  in  God, 
willingness  to  do  his  will,  peace,  strength  to  resist  temptation, 
love  to  your  fellow-men,  anticipation  of  glory  ?  If  there  be  in 
thee  this  inexhaustible  well  of  all  that  is  desirable,  then  hast 
thou  enough  not  only  for  thyself,  but  for  thy  neighbors,  for  all 
mankind  in  fact.  Yes,  if  thou  alone  of  all  the  family  of  man, 
were  in  possession  of  such  a  well,  from  thee  there  might  go 
forth  streams  to  make  glad  the  entire  face  of  earth,  to  satisfy 
the  entire  wants  of  men.  For  this  well  in  thee,  is  Christ  in 
thee. 


November  9. — "A  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him." — He- 
brews xi.  6. 

It  is  a  great  moment  in  a  man's  life  when  he  ascertains  that 


374  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

he  does  not  know  God.  The  next  step  is  to  ascertain  that  one 
ought  to  know  God.  After  this  a  man  may  still  go  knocking 
at  many  wrong  doors ;  but  let  us  hope  that  he  will  at  length 
reach  the  right  door,  even  the  Bible,  and  conclusively  set 
himself  to  seek  God  therein. 

If  we  want  to  know  what  it  is  to  seek  diligently,  we  need 
no  dictionary;  we  need  only  look  aroun^  us;  in  every  commu- 
nity there  are  men  who  seem  to  have  assigned  themselves  this 
particular  task  of  exhibiting  in  their  own  persons,  what  dili- 
gence is.  It  is  true  they  are  not  seeking  God ;  but  having 
seen  with  what  consecration  they  seek  their  object,  we  shall  be 
at  no  loss  to  know  what  it  is  diligently  to  seek  God. 

Is  it  that  the  Lord  conceals  himself  from  us  ?  That  he  has 
shut  himself  in  from  our  gaze,  like  an  oriental  king,  within 
many  enclosures ;  and  stationed  cherubim  with  fiery  swords  at 
every  gate,  to  make  it  impossible  for  us  to  approach  him? 
Nay,  not  so.  Whatever  difficulties  there  are  have  not  been 
interposed  by  him,  but  by  us.  So  far  as  God  is  concerned 
there  is  a  clear  course  before  us.  No  man  that  ever  lived  in 
the  world  enjoyed  better  opportunities  of  finding  God  than  I 
that  write,  or  you  that  read  this  meditation. 

He  must  be  sous-ht  with  an  undivided  heart.     He  must  be 

o 

the  supreme  object  of  search.  To  many  he  is  but  one  object 
of  search  out  of  many.  They  go  out  into  the  world  seeking 
various  things,  and  bring  home  in  their  bag  a  hundred  spoils 
of  earth,  with  one  or  two  words  of  God  at  the  bottom ;  what 
wonder  if  these  words  are  stifled  by  the  company  they  are 
found  in.  In  fact  the  words  themselves  flee  away  at  the  first 
opportunity;  they  will  not  stay  to  breathe  that  fetid  atmo- 
sphere. A  man  that  diligently  seeks  God,  has  renounced  the 
search  of  other  things ;  to  this  one  port  he  hies  him  crowding 
all  canvass,  watching  all  that  favors,  all  that  opposes;  knowing 
that  the  provision  on  board  will  suffice  only  so  far  as  to  that 
port.     To  neglect  the  least  gale  that  blows,  to  lose  the  least 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  375 

current,  to  be  overburdened  witli  cargo  in  the  least  degree, 
may. involve  the  destruction  of  all.  The  commander  of  such 
a  vessel  thinks  of  the  port  and  of  the  means  of  reaching  it, 
while  he  eats,  while  he  drinks,  while  he  talks,  while  he  sleeps 
even ;  his  eye  continually  wanders  from  his  chart  to  his  com- 
pass, thence  to  his  sails,  thence  to  the  sky,  thence  to  the  sea, 
thence  to  his  men,  thence  to  his  chart  again. 


November  10. — "I  will  not  let  thee  go,  except  thou  bless  me." — Ge- 
nesis xxxii.  26. 

There  is  an  erroneous  idea  of  submission  abroad  in  the 
world.  Quite  likely,  the  error  obtains  in  the  Church  to  some 
extent.  There  are  many  things  in  our  condition  here  to 
which  we  are  simply  called  to  submit.  God  has  placed  them, 
and  woe  to  him  who  would  seek  to  displace  them.  But  there 
are  other  things  which  have  been  placed  in  our  way  expressly 
that  we  might  enter  into  conflict  with  them  and  overcome 
them.  There  are  difficulties  placed  in  our  path,  to  give  us  op- 
portunities of  evincing  what  faith,  courage,  perseverance,  wis- 
dom, energy,  prayerfulness,  devotedness  are  in  us.  God  with- 
holds some  things  from  us,  with  a  prohibition ;  it  is  treason  to 
go  on  seeking  them ;  and  he  withholds  other  things,  by  way 
of  incitation ;  that  we  may  be  stirred  up  to  engage  with  all 
faith  and  assiduity  in  the  search  for  them;  and  that  the  con- 
quest of  them  may  be  the  reward  of  valiant  and  all-conquering 
endeavor. 

If  we  understand  the  Christian  doctrine  of  submission,  as 
implying  that  we  are  to  drag  ourselves^feebly,  faintly  along 
the  pathway  of  life ;  that  there  is  to  be  no  great  forth-putting 
of  power  in  connection  with  us ;  we  understand  it  wrongl3\ 
Because  we  are  the  servants  of  God,  are  we  therefore  to  be 
without  energy,  choice,  decision,  determination,  perseverance  ? 
Is  the  voluntary  part  of  our  nature  to  be  plucked  up  by  the 


376  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

roots  ?  Is  there  nothing  in  the  way  of  enterprise  to  challenge 
the  highest  exercise  of  all  our  powers  ?  Surely  there  is.  Be- 
hold David,  the  Shepherd's  boy.  When  he  saw  the  bear  and 
afterwards  the  lion  come  near  the  flock,  he  did  not  say,  "  God 
hath  sent  these,  and  it  would  be  fool-hardy  or  sinful  in  me  to 
resist  them,"  Perhaps  he  said,  "  God  has  sent  these  to  prove 
me,  that  I  may  show  what  courage  and  fidelity  and  faith  are 
in  me,''  At  all  events  he  engaged  them  in  the  name  of  his 
God  and  slew  them. 

When  we  ask  and  do  not  obtain,  we  are  not  always  to  sup- 
pose that  our  suit  is  dismissed :  sometimes  we  are  simply  chal- 
lenged by  the  silence  of  God  to  be  more  urgent,  more  be- 
lieving. The  Syro-Phenician  woman  would  have  done  wrong 
had  she  gone  away  submissive,  when  Christ  gave  signs  that 
her  prayer  was  not  to  be  granted.  By  faith  Jacob  had  power 
with  God  and  prevailed.  Faith  creates  a  new  condition  of 
things,  so  that  it  becomes  expedient  for  God  to  grant  what 
otherwise  would  have  been  withheld.  He  will  say  "  No"  to 
less  faith  and  "  Yes"  to  more  faith.  All  things  are  possible  to 
him  that  believeth.  When  we  get  nigh  to  God,  let  us  make 
the  most  of  our  advantage.  Let  us  obtain  great  blessings  not 
only  for  ourselves,  but  for  others.  Let  us  view  God  as  he  is 
revealed  at  the  cross,  and  not  care  much  for  the  apparent 
frown  of  his  providence,  but  contend  with  it  and  get  the 
better  of  it,  by  faith. 

November  11. — "Godliness  is  profitable  unto  all  things,  having  promise 
of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come." — 1  Timothy  iv.  8. 

The  life  that  noio  is.  Covetousness  reading  this  begins  to 
glow  with  delight;  it  exclaims,  "  This  is  the  very  thing  I  seek; 
'the  life  that  now  is;'  and  of  course  'that  which  is  to  come.' 
Religion  is  a  good  thing  after  all ;  I  will  give  myself  to  it  at 
once."  But  the  promise  is  not  to  thee,  0  covetousness ;  it  is 
to  godliness.     It  is  to  the  soul  in  which  covetousness  is  dead ; 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  377 

to  the  godly  soul,  whicli  says,  "  One  thing  is  needful ;"  whose 
affections  are  set  on  things  above ;  which  looks  upon  the  favor 
of  God  as  life,  and  upon  worldliness  as  death.  This  promise 
is  to  the  follower  of  Christ  who  has  taken  up  his  cross  and  co- 
venanted to  abandon  the  paths  of  worldly  pleasure.  Yes;  the 
promise  of  the  life  that  now  is  can  only  be  made  to  him  who 
has  learned  to  look  upon  life  as  a  means  of  serving  God,  glori- 
fying Christ,  revealing  the  truth  and  working  out  salvation. 
He  that  is  absorbed  in  the  life  that  now  is,  loses  both  this  life 
and  that  which  is  to  come ;  he  that  is  godly,  that  lives  unto 
God,  gains  this  life  and  that  which  is  to  come.  Gains  this 
life,  because  his  sorrow  is  worth,  a  hundred  times  over,  the 
joy  of  the  ungodly;  his  life  is  not  a  prey  to  vanity;  his  days 
are  so  many  steps  toward  a  blissful  condition ;  and  God  ap- 
proves. Gains  it,  because  all  things  work  together  for  his 
good; — gains  it,  because  all  the  promises  are  his;  he  has 
peace ;  he  has  joy,  love,  humility,  purity,  and  a  hope  that  will 
not  fail  him. 


November  12. — "The  angel  of  the  Lord  encampeth  round  about  them 
that  fear  him,  and  delivereth  them." — Psalm  xxxiv.  7. 

Many  are  the  afflictions  of  the  righteous,  but  out  of  them 
all  the  Lord  delivereth  them.  If  wordly  men  are  competent 
to  effect  the  deliverance,  the  Lord  accomplishes  it  by  them. 
If  saints  are  needed,  saints  are  employed.  If  the  impedi- 
ments cannot  be  removed  in  this  way,  if  supernatural  aid  is 
necessary,  then  the  augels  receive  their  commission.  If  an 
army  of  these  invincible  ones  are  needed,  they  are  sent,  and 
under  the  guidance  of  their  leader  they  encamp  around  about 
the  imperilled  believer.  If  the  work  to  be  performed  is  be- 
yond the  prowess  of  any  created  beings,  the  Omnipotent  Spirit 
hastens  to  put  forth  his  irresistible  energies  in  behalf  of  his 
servant. 

All  our  biographies  are  necessarily  very  imperfect.  \^q 
32* 


378  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

have  not  in  tliis  world  the  materials  for  writing  them.  The 
most  remarkable  incidents  have  to  be  omitted,  or  just  sha- 
dowed forth,  as  the  documents  relating  to  the  operations  of 
one's  invisible  attendants  are  not  with  us,  but  in  the  other 
world.  If  only  our  eyes  were  opened,  like  those  of  the  ser- 
vant of  Elisha,  to  behold  these  celestial  auxiliaries  with  their 
fiery  chariots ! 


November  13. — "I  have  loved  thee  with  an  everlasting  love." — Jere- 
miah xxxi.  3. 

God  considered  that  this  life  of  ours  is  very  short,  very  fu- 
gitive, and  that  crowd  it  as  he  might  with  expressions  of  his 
kindness,  he  never  would  be  able  to  give  anything  like  a  suf- 
ficient revelation  of  his  love.  So  he  resolved  to  take  rtme 
beforehand,  a  great  deal  of  it,  and  fill  all  heaven  and  earth, 
from  the  very  beginning  on  continuously,  with  the  manifesta- 
tions of  his  love  to  the  creature  that  was  to  live  in  this  our 
day,  was  to  hover  for  a  little  about  the  middle  of  this  century, 
and  then  be  gone.  When  by  the  recovering  grace  of  Christ 
we  have  been  brought  to  take  delight  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
love  of  God,  we  find  that  God  was  mindful  of  us,  in  the  far 
off  days  of  a  by-gone  eternity;  and  myriads  of  years  ago 
placed  in  the  depths  of  space  suns,  whose  rays  swift-travelling, 
should  reach  our  locality  in  our  day,  and  assure  us  that  he 
thought  of  us  when  the  morning  stars  first  sang  together.  lie 
thought  of  us;  and  scarce  had  the  transgression  of  Adam 
brought  a  curse  upon  the  world  in  which  we  were  to  have  ex 
istence,  when  God  hastened  to  announce  that  in  the  fulness  of 
time,  his  own  Son  should  come  into  the  world,  and  absorb  in 
his  own  person  the  manifold  curse.  If  we  labor  in  vain  to  find 
the  beginning  of  this  love,  much  more  shall  we  labor  in  vain 
to  learn  the' future  duration  of  it. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  379 

November  14. — "I  will  put  my  law  in  their  inward  parts  and  write  it 
in  their  hearts." — Jeremiah  xxxi.  33. 

The  law  of  God  is  written  in  our  hearts,  when  it  is  the  best 
expression  of  our  desires,  the  best  description  of  our  tastes 
and  affections,  the  best  enunciation  of  our  resolutions,  the  true 
exponent  of  our  faith,  the  most  conspicuous  thing  in  our  mem- 
ories. It  is  written  in  our  hearts,  when  our  words  give  utter- 
ance to  it  in  thousand  fold  modulation ;  when  our  acts  embody 
it;  when  our  influence  is  its  influence.  When  Christ  abides 
in  our  heart  by  faith,  then  is  the  law  written  in  our  hearts. 
When  we  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  Grod.  When  we  call  our- 
selves unprofitable  servants  and  repudiate  our  own  righteous- 
ness. When  the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by 
the  Holy  Ghost  given  unto  us. 


November  15. — "The  secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them  that  fear  him." — 
Psalm  XXV.  14. 

Of  the  fear  here  so  honorably  spoken  of,  suffice  it  now  to 
say  that  it  is  not  by  any  means  a  sentiment  that  repels  from 
God,  but  on  the  contrary  one  that  draws  to  God.  They  that 
fear  the  Lord,  in  the  honorable  and  Scriptural  sense,  are  they 
who  are  powerfully  affected  by  the  promise  here  given.  To 
the  great  majority  of  men,  alas,  to  many  who  assume  the  name 
of  Christians,  the  promise  here  recorded  possesses  no  charm. 
Their  spirits  are  no  way  stirred  within  them  by  the  prospect 
of  being  made  the  confidants  of  God.  They  shall  not  be  his 
confidants.  This  singularly  exalted  condition  is,  for  them  to 
whom  is  the  promise,  like  a  day-star  arising  in  the  heart, — like 
a  cynosure  drawing  them  patiently,  perseveringly,  earnestly  on 
in  the  pathway  of  obedience,  faith  and  love.  Abraham  was 
the  friend  of  God;  and  God  approved  himself  a  friend  indeed; 
he  would,  not  hide  from  him  the  thing  which  was  hidden  from 
all  the  rest  of  the  world.     Moses  too  was  the  friend  of  God, 


380  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

and  broiiglit  into  surprising  intimacy ;  the  secret  of  the  Lord 
was  with  him.  "  Henceforth,"  said  Christ  to  the  apostles,  "  I 
call  you  not  servants  but  friends;  for  all  things  whatsoever  I 
have  heard  of  my  Father,  I  have  made  known  unto  you." 

And  doubtless  there  are  those  now  upon  the  earth  who  re- 
cline as  it  were  upon  the  bosom  of  their  Lord  and  drink  in 
his  most  secret  communications,  unintelligible  to  others.  They 
partake  of  hidden  manna.  "  To  him  that  overcometh,  Christ 
giveth  a  white  stone,  and  in  the  stone  a  new  name  written 
vvhich  no  man  knoweth,  saving  he  that  receiveth  it." 

But,  in  Christ  is  not  the  veil  done  away,  so  that  we  all  with 
open  face  behold  the  glory  of  the  Lord  ?  Yes,  but  we  do  not 
all  behold  all  glory.  The  degrees  of  glory  are  in  number  in- 
finite. Great  is  the  mystery  of  godliness ;  and  veil  after  veil 
must  be  removed  before  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is.  Perhaps 
there  is  nothing  we  all  so  much  need  to  learn  as  this,  that  there 
is  something  beyond,  of  which  our  past  experience  is  not  able 
to  give  us  any  conception.  The  mystery  that  lies  before  us  we 
are  not  conscious  of:  we  are  conscious  of  what  we  know,  not 
of  what  we  do  not  know.  It  is  a  great  thing  to  be  brought  to 
see  the  veiled  glory  before  us  in  our  path;  to  get  the  concep- 
tion of  an  attainable  intimacy  that  is  much  beyond  anything 
we  have  known. 

Men  may  pervert ;  Satan  may  counterfeit ;  but  the  word  of 
God  remains  in  its  integrity  for  the  children  of  God.  The 
secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them  that  fear  him.  Not  in  the 
way  of  some  new  revelation,  extra-scriptural;  but  by  opening 
their  eyes  to  behold  wonderful  things  in  the  word  of  God; 
things  that  ordinary  eye  hath  not  seen,  ear  not  heard,  heart 
not  conceived. 

November  16. — "  Thou  wast  slain  and  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy 
blood." — Revelation  v.  9. 

Men  of  this  world  look  with  ineffable  scorn  upon   the  cus- 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  381 

toms,  sentiments  and  language  of  those  whose  chief  pleasure 
is  in  celebrating  the  dying  love  of  Christ,  crucified  for  sinners. 
They  detest,  they  loathe  the  language  of  many  of  our  hymns ; 
for  example,  such  lines  as  these :  • 

"  Dear  dying  Lamb,  thy  precious  blood 
Shall  never  lose  its  power, 
Till  all  the  ransomed  church  of  God 
Be  saved,  to  sin  no  more." 

Religion  in  some  sober  and  decorous  form,  (they  say)  we 
revere ;  but  this  canting  Methodism  with  its  absurd  vocabu- 
lary, ringing  the  changes  on  such  expressions  as — Lamb,  bleed- 
ing Lamb,  wounded  side,  dying  love,  fountain  filled  with  blood, 
lover  of  my  soul,  precious  Redeemer, — this  insane  and  drivel- 
ing piety  we  cannot  away  with.  They  would  flee  away  from  a 
prayer  meeting,  where  these  and  similar  expressions  were  ut- 
tered in  hymns  or  prayers.  Suppose,  as  they  fled  from  such  a 
place,  the  apostle  John  should  meet  them,  seize  them  by  the 
hand  and  hurry  them  into  a  chamber  of  such  stupendous  di- 
mensions that  it  was  impossible  for  any  finite  eye  to  discover 
either  the  walls  or  the  ceiling ;  bathed  in  an  unearthly  radi- 
ancy; redolent  with  odors  issuing  from  golden  vials;  inter- 
penetrated with  the  seraphic  melody  of  countless  golden  harps, 
and  the  harmonious  chants  of  myriads  of  voices;  and  should 
bring  to  their  notice  that  these  beatified  myriads  were  engaged 
in  adoring  the  same  being  whom  those  Christians  were  praising, 
and  addressing  him,  the  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords,  in 
the  very  same — the  identical  language  that  they  had  found  so 
ofitensive  in  that  first  assembly.  Would  this  sufl&ce  to  convince 
them  that  the  wrong  taste,  the  fallacious  judgment,  the  insanity 
are  on  their  part  rather  than  on  that  of  the  psalm-singing 
Christians  ? 


382  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

November  17. — "Your  adversary  the  devil,  as  a  roaring  lion  walketh 
about,  seeking  whom  he  may  devour." — 1  Peter  v.  8. 

The  reference  here  would  seem  to  be  to  the  efforts  made  to 
intimidate  the  followers  o^  Christ,  by  penal  enactments,  san- 
guinary edicts,  or  by  popular  violence.  The  early  Christians 
were  summoned  before  magistrates  and  commanded  to  renounce 
the  faith  they  had  embraced  or  had  shown  themselves  ready  to 
embrace,  by  some  unequivocal  act  of  homage  to  a  heathen  di- 
vinity or  to  the  image  of  the  emperor.  Satan  made  himself 
as  terrible  as  possible,  saying,  "  Cast  away  your  confidence,  or 
I  will  tear  you  limb  from  limb."  But  it  was  not  by  resisting 
him  that  men  were  devoured ;  it  was  by  succumbing  to  him. 
They  that  were  terrified  by  his  roar,  and  driven  from  the  ob- 
noxious path,  became  his  prey.  Though  we  have  no  Roman 
Emperors  to  launch  against  us  withering  edicts,  yet  the  adver- 
sary has  not  by  any  means  ceased  to  go  about  as  a  roaring  lion ; 
he  still  deals  in  intimidation.  Thousands  are  hindered  from 
coming  out  of  the  world  by  his  monitory  roar,  which  threatens 
them  with  the  wrath  of  the  world  if  they  have  anything  to 
do  with  the  life  of  faith.  Sometimes  the  consciousness  of  sin 
is  made  the  means  of  producing  alarm.  The  convinced  sinner 
is  made  to  see  his  sins  standing  like  so  many  genii  of  tremen- 
dous stature  and  intolerable  wrath  along  the  pathway  of  re- 
demption. The  aim  of  the  adversary,  in  these  loud  heart- 
melting  roars,  is  to  drown  the  still  small  voice  of  the  Spirit 
of  Grod,  so  that  we  may  not  hear  the  assurance  of  divine  help 
and  infallible  deliverance.  The  adversary  roars  now  like  a 
lion  ',  but  if  we  meet  him,  he  becomes  less  and  less  a  lion,  and 
eventually  takes  to  ignominious  flight;  but  the  Spirit  of  God, 
speaking  like  a  dove,  if  we  refuse  to  hearken  to  him,  shall 
finally  be  heard  in  a  voice  louder  than  ten  thousand  thunders, 
shall  come  to  us  clothed  in  all  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb ;  and 
who  shall  then  be  able  to  stand,  what  heart  shall  then  endure? 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  383 

November  18. — "Mark  the  perfect  man  and  behold  the  upright;  for 
the  end  of  that  man  is  peace." — Psalm  xxxvii.  37. 

We  are  here  called  upon  to  observe  the  providential  wisdom 
and  faithfulness  of  God,  shown  in  his  care  of  the  good.  "We 
are  not  merely  to  glance  at  these  good  ones,  but  to  keep  our 
eye  upon  them ;  for  though  God's  providence  may,  for  a  season, 
appear  to  be  adverse  to  them,  yet  at  the  end  it  will  be  found 
that  he  has  led  them  carefully  by  his  all-righteous  hand.  Not 
that  they  will  die  in  affluence,  in  splendor,  or  in  great  worldly 
honor ;  but  they  shall  exhibit  their  sure  trust  in  God  by  a 
tranquil  and  serene  deportment,  by  a  heavenly  peace,  by  a 
prayer  breathed  for  their  enemies  in  the  very  hour  when  they 
are  stoned  to  death. 

But  there  are  many  who  say,  "  Show  us  the  perfect  man ; 
let  us  see  the  upright  man ;  we  look  for  such  in  vain.'^  We 
answer,  The  Judge  of  all  the  earth  sees  some  whom  he  is  wil- 
ling thus  to  designate ;  it  is  a  reproach  to  you,  if  you  know 
them  not.  He  says  not,  the  perfect  angel,  but  the  perfect  man; 
in  other  words,  the  sinner,  who  has  turned  from  the  error  of 
his  ways,  and  become,  in  most  important  respects,  what  God 
would  have  him  to  be.  The  eye  of  God,  wandering  over  the 
outspread  ranks  of  humanity,  reposes  at  length  upon  one  who 
having  recognized  his  deep-dyed  guilt,  his  imminent  danger, 
and  fled  for  refuge  to  the  Redeemer,  has  consecrated  himself 
to  God,  identified  himself  with  the  cause  and  with  the  people 
of  God,  and  given  himself  to  the  study  and  pursuit  of  perfec- 
tion. Such  are  living  epistles,  known  and  read  of  all  men ; 
by  their  lives  religiously  condemning,  convincing,  inviting, 
persuading  others.  Their  testimony,  like  that  of  the  word  of 
God,  is  disliked  and  spoken  against. 

If  indeed  you  have  sincerely  looked  and  looked  in  vain,  then 
be  alarmed  at  the  thought  of  the  evil  days  upon  which  you 
have  fallen.  For  such  men  are  the  salt  of  the  earth ;  and 
when  they  are  withdrawn,  swift  destruction  cometh.     If  there 


384  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

are  none  such,  how  much  reason  is  there  that  you  and  I  should 
seek  by  the  grace  of  God,  to  be  such. 


November  19. — "He  that  overcometh  shall  inherit  all  things." — Reve- 
lation xxi.  7. 

Sell  all  that  thou  hast  and  give  to  the  poor,  says  Christ, 
Except  a  man  forsake  all  that  he  hath,  he  cannot  be  my  dis- 
ciple. Having  food  and  raiment,  let  us  be  therewith  content. 
Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread.  We  are  crucified  unto  the 
world  and  the  world  unto  us. 

Naturally,  we  grasp  at  all.  We  embrace  with  our  hands  all 
that  we  possibly  can,  and  embrace  the  rest  with  our  desires. 
What  we  are  not  able  to  inscribe  with  our  name  as  possessor, 
we  inscribe  with  our  name  as  candidate.  Now,  when  we  go 
over  to  Christ,  we  have  to  detach  ourselves  from  all  this.  We 
renounce  all.  We  bring  the  little  of  the  world  that  we  pos- 
sess, and  the  remainder  of  the  world  that  we  longed  after,  and 
lay  all  down  at  the  feet  of  Christ.  By  faith  we  learn  to  be- 
hold all  excellence  in  him,  and  to  find  our  world  in  him.  When 
perfected  in  this  we  inherit  all  things. 

It  is  a  dishonorable  thing  for  the  sons  of  God  to  be  co-part- 
ners with  ungodly  men ;  and  the  ungodly  possess  this  earth 
and  the  thino-s  that  are  therein ;  the  deo-radation  of  sin  has 
passed  like  a  tremendous  wave  over  the  whole  globe,  and  ren- 
dered all  unfit  for  the  people  of  God.  But  a  day  cometh  when 
the  wicked  shall  be  driven  hence ;  when  a  new  heaven  and  a 
new  earth  shall  appear ;  then  the  saints  shall  inherit  all  things. 
The  idea  of  possession  current  in  this  base  world,  involves  the 
idea  of  privation  for  others.  We  only  possess  when  others  do 
not  possess.  But  in  the  world  to  come  of  which  we  speak,  it 
is  very  different.  Nothing  is  so  much  deprecated  there  as  ex- 
clusive possession.  A  thing  is  there  only  possessed  when  all 
possess  it.     It  is  the  world  of  love,  and  nothing  else  is  called 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  385 

gain  tliat  involves  privation  for  others.  What  makes  this  in- 
heritance of  all  things  so  entrancing,  is  that  many  others  in- 
herit with  us.  Their  joy,  their  glory,  their  wealth,  are  the 
most  important  elements  in  our  joy,  glory  and  wealth. 


November  20.—"  The  God  of  all  comfort."— 2  CorintMans  i.  3. 

God  is  represented  to  us  as  the  God  of  all  patience  and  con- 
solation, the  God  of  peace,  the  God  of  hope,  the  God  of  grace, 
the  God  of  comfort,  all  expressions  denoting  his  relations  to 
his  people,  and  designed  to  reveal  him  to  them  as  the  all-suf- 
ficient and  inexhaustible  fountain  of  peace,  patience,  and  com- 
fort. As  often  as  the  word  comfort  is  mentioned,  and  how 
often  it  is  !  our  thoughts  should  be  spontaneously  turned  from 
the  petty,  the  misnamed  comfort  of  earth,  to  the  infinite  Com- 
forter.    Do  we  know  him  as  the  God  of  all  comfort  ? 

He  brought  his  people  out  of  Egypt;  removed  them  from 
the  land  of  Goshen  to  the  wilderness ;  from  their  homes,  their 
hearths,  their  associations,  their  accustomed  board,  to  a  waste 
and  howling  wilderness,  where  no  fields  waved  with  plenty, 
where  no  fertilizing  and  gladdening  streams  were  seen,  where 
the  sun  smote  them  by  day,  and  wild  beasts  prowled  by  night. 
Was  he  in  this  a  God  of  comfort  ?  Many  of  them  thought 
not,  they  murmured  against  him.  Yet  their  descendants 
through  all  generations,  regarded  this  act  of  God  as  an  amaz- 
ing proof  of  his  love :  as  indeed  it  was.  In  the  absence  of 
earthly  comforts,  the  sufiiciency  of  God  came  out  gloriously. 
No  people  were  ever  more  tenderly  cared  for  than  they  were. 
He  led  them  with  the  gentleness  of  a  good  shepherd.  He 
would  very  soon  have  brought  them  into  a  land  flowing  with 
milk  and  honey,  had  they  sufiered  him. 
33 


386  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

November  21. — "The  Lord  taketh  pleasure  in  his  people."  Psalm 
cxlix.  4. 

If  this  world  should  resolve  to  send  an  embassy  to  the  most 
high  God,  whom  would  it  choose  ?  Well,  the  princes  of  this 
world  would  be  represented ;  the  brother  of  some  Czar,  or  the 
nephew  of  some  Emperor  would  go  for  them.  The  bishops 
and  high  clergy  would  be  represented  by  some  legate  of  ample 
wealth.  The  literary  world  would  send  some  Goethe,  or  Con- 
fucius, or  Plato.  The  merchants  would  send  a  Rothschild. 
The  artists  would  find  a  Raphael.  There  would  be  an  ermined 
judge  and  a  decorated  physician.  The  military  would  send  a 
Hannibal,  the  transcendentalists  a  Kant.  All  orders  would  be 
represented.  But  if,  as  the  servant  of  some  one  of  this  com- 
pany, a  meek  and  lowly  Christian  might  obtain  permission  to 
go,  this  one  alone  of  all  the  company  would  be  permitted  to 
enter  the  audience-chamber  of  God.  He  taketh  pleasure  in 
such,  not  in  the  wise,  the  noble,  the  wealthy,  the  mitred.  Like 
him  may  we  learn  to  take  pleasure  in  such. 


NoTEMBER  22.  "  This  is  the  promise  that  he  hath  promised  us,  even 
eternal  life."     1  John  ii.  25. 

Not  that  we  shall  be  exempt  from  loss^  disappointment,  sick- 
ness, human  unkindness,  embarrassment,  vexation,  insult,  defa- 
mation, humiliation ;  not  that  we  shall  have  in  this  world  all 
the  displays  of  providential  favor  on  which  we  may  have  cal- 
culated; these  are  not  the  things  promised;  the  promise 
that  he  hath  promised  us  is  eternal  life.  God  may  have  dealt 
strangely  with  thee,  0  my  soul ;  but  say  frankly,  has  he  at  all 
dealt  with  thee  in  a  way  to  hinder  the  fulfilment  of  the  prom- 
ise made  thee  ? 

We  are  saved  by  hope.  He  that  believeth  hath  eternal  life; 
he  hath  entered  upon  it;  he  is  living  a  new  life,  one  that 
stretches  out  into  eternity;  but  what  he  has  experienced  is 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  387 

I 
only  the   beginning  of  it.     We  know  not  yet  what  we  shall 

be ;  as  the  infant  little  knows  what  is  the  life  it  possesses,  what 
its  endowments,  its  susceptibilities,  its  privileges. 

This  promise  of  eternal  life  is  the  door  opening  out  from 
the  gloom  of  this  world  into  the  ever-blooming  paradise  of 
God.  To  the  common  ear  of  man  it  is  an  empty  sound.  Men 
care  nothing  for  eternal  life,  because  they  know  nothing  of 
life.  A  man  must  have  experience  of  life  before  he  can  hail 
with  rapture  the  promise  that  that  life  shall  be  eternally  his. 
What  is  life  ?  Life  in  God  is  life.  A  vital  conscious  union 
of  the  soul  with  God  through  Christ;  so  that  the  individual 
is  transferred  to  God ;  his  body,  his  soul,  his  understanding, 
his  affections,  his  desires,  his  purposes,  all  under  the  direction 
of  God ;  not  in  such  a  way  as  to  diminish  in  the  least  his  in- 
dividuality, his  voluntariness ;  but  to  enhance  it,  refine  it,  per- 
fect it ;  this  is  life.  Now  with  regard  to  the  mere  life  of  the 
body,  hardly  any  one  has  it  in  perfection ;  death  and  decay 
have  set  their  marks  on  all.  Of  even  the  merely  corporeal 
life  of  paradise,  we  have  but  a  faint  shadow.  Similarly,  with 
regard  to  those  who  have  entered  upon  eternal  life,  spiritual 
life  is  with  them  a  matter  of  degree ;  one  has  it  in  one  degree, 
one  in  another ;  but  who  has  it  in  perfection  ?  According  to 
the  degree  in  which  we  possess  it,  does  the  simple  promise  of 
eternal  life  seem  to  us  a  sufficient  dowry;  a  talisman  under 
the  influence  of  which  deserts  are  no  longer  deserts  to  us,  pri- 
vations no  longer  privations. 

Eternal  life  and  all  things  essentially  conducive  to  it ;  such 
is  our  portion.  Sometimes  Satan  may  creep  into  our  imagina^ 
tion  and  persuade  us  that  some  bright  and  beautiful  phantom, 
some  lovely  creation  wrought  out  of  the  stuff  that  rainbows 
are  made  of,  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  web  of  our  eternal 
life,  and  then  we  cling  to  it  with  something  of  the  tenacity  of 
our  love  to  Christ ;  Satan  laughs,  but  we  awake  in  spite  of 
him,  and  notwithstanding  the  scar  at  heart,  soon  satiate  our- 


388  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

selves  with  that  better  portion,  now  better  understood.  God 
builds  the  bridge  by  which  we  pass  into  the  unclouded  region 
of  eternal  life,  stone  by  stone,  as  we  step  by  step  advance; 
every  day  he  lays  down  the  stone  on  which  we  are  that  day  to 
put  our  foot.  Some  beholding  the  far-stretching  morass  before 
them  and  discerning  no  bridge,  refuse  to  advance ;  they  wait 
for  Grod ;  but  God  has  put  down  a  stone  for  them,  and  will 
add  no  other  until  they  have  begun  to  walk. 


November  23. — "  Thy  people  shall  be  willing  in  the  day  of  thy  power." 
Psalm  ex.  3. 

Voluntarily,  heartily  following  thy  banners ;  volunteering  to 
yield  their  substance,  to  forsake  their  hearths,  to  fight  the  good 
fight  of  faith.  In  that  day  there  will  be  no  constraint  or  dis- 
traint; no  legal  enactments  to  maintain  a  ministry;  no  politi- 
cal alliance,  no  dependance  on  the  state.  The  willingness  of 
Christ's  people  will  afford  all  the  scope  that  is  requisite  for 
the  manifestation  of  Christ's  power.  Then  shall  be  heard  a 
loud  voice  exclaiming,  "  Now  is  come  salvation,  and  strength, 
and  the  kingdom  of  our  God,  and  the  power  of  his  Christ." 
The  great  dragon,  that  old  serpent,  is  cast  out,  when  there  is 
no  longer  aught  intermediate  between  Christ  and  his  people : 
when  his  servants  are  willing  to  recognize  him  as  their  own 
Master. 

Oh,  reader !  Brother  or  sister,  hast  thou  anything  of  the 
spirit  that  animated  Isaiah  in  the  hour  when  he  said,  "  Here 
am  I,  send  me  ?"  How  few  there  are  that  have  wills  like  the 
will  of  Christ.  How  difficult  it  is  to  find  a  workman  for  Christ 
when  the  work  is  at  all  difficult.  How  long  must  we  advertise 
for  a  missionary  to  go  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges,  that 
he  may  constrain  men  to  come  in.  But  when  the  work  is  of  a 
less  trying  character,  the  emoluments  greater,  how  many  can- 
didates we  have.     Oh,  what  an  unwilling  age  it  is,  with  all  its 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  389 

boasted  piety.  All  tlie  world's  promises  must  be  mingled  witli 
the  promises  of  Christ,  in  order  to  induce  Christians,  what  we 
call  Christians,  to  do  some  special  work  for  Christ.  Christ  and 
the  king  must  go  into  partnership,  then  men  will  enlist  under 
the  banners  that  are  called  by  kingly  courtesy  the  banners  of 
Christ.  Oh,  the  dread  blindness  that  has  fallen  upon  us  all. 
When,  oh,  when  shall  there  be  found  a  willing  people  for 
Christ  ?  Men  that  shall  say  with  Paul,  "  I  do  this  thing  wil- 
lingly," and  give  proof  of  what  they  say  ?  A  Church  volun- 
tarily contributing,  laboring,  preaching,  abstaining,  and  in  a 
word,  accomplishing  all  the  functions  of  a  Church,  uncon- 
strained, and  purely  because  Christ  wills  it  ? 


November  24. — "His  truth  shall  be  thy  shield  and  buckler." — Psalm 
xci.  4. 

When  the  adversary  heard,  by  the  waters  of  Jordan,  a  voice 
from  heaven  exclaiming,  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son  in  whom  I 
am  well  pleased,"  he  started  like  one  who  suddenly  discovers  a 
hostile  army  in  the  heart  of  his  dominions.  Fast  he  followed 
him  on  whom  the  Lord  had  lain  help,  followed  him  to  the  wil- 
derness, and  rained  upon  him  those  missiles  by  which  he  had 
conquered  in  ten  thousand  battles.  He  said  to  himself  no 
doubt,  "  Adam  was  the  Son  of  Grod  and  bore  the  image  of 
God ;  was  I  not  victorious  over  him  ?  Who  is  this  that  Com- 
eth down  from  God  out  of  heaven  ?  and  what  is  his  armor  ?" 
His  armor  was  simply  the  word  of  God.  This  was  his  shield 
and  buckler ;  and  all  the  fiery  darts  of  the  adversary  were 
hurled  in  vain.  The  shield  by  which  Christ  came  victorious 
out  of  his  combats  with  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air, 
he  took  not  away  with  him  to  heaven,  but  left  for  his  people. 
Satan  gnashes  his  teeth  when  he  sees  it  in  the  hand  of  some 
puny  stripling,  a  candidate  for  heaven;  for  it  tells  him  of 
maddening  defeats  sustained  by  him  of  old.     Yes,  thou  little 


390  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

one,  thou  hast  a  buckler  of  amazing  virtue !  If  the  shield  of 
Achilles  was  sung  by  Homer,  who  shall  sing  the  praises  of  thy 
shield  ? 

This  shield  has  strange  properties.  It  is  only  against  the 
adversaries  of  the  Lord  that  it  is  of  any  avail.  It  is  only  a 
follower  of  Christ  that  can  lift  it.  It  is  only  while  one  walks 
in  the  appointed  path  that  he  can  lift  it ;  let  him  turn  to  the 
right  hand  or  the  left,  and  immediately  it  becomes  heavy  as 
iron.  What  a  sad  spectacle  to  see  a  poor  deluded  being  drag- 
ging it  after  him  with  all  his  might.  Instead  of  a  shield  it  is 
to  him  a  fearful  incumbrance.  Not  there,  not  there,  my  friend ! 
Come  to  the  king's  highway  j  then  will  it  be  to  you  a  shield 
indeed ! 


NoYEMBER  25, — "  0  grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ?" — 1  Corinthians 
XV.  55. 

In  great  cities  we  find  monumental  arches,  columns,  obelisks 
and  tablets,  telling  of  victories  won  by  man  over  man ;  but 
death  writes  his  name  loftily  on  all  these,  saying,  "  Man's  vic- 
tories are  my  victories."  But  the  monumental  trophies  of 
death  are  found  in  all  cities  great  and  small,  in  all  places,  in 
fact.  Death  lords  it  everywhere  and  over  all.  Scarcely  has 
humanity  begun  to  put  on  nobility  or  virtue  in  any  quarter, 
before  death  appears  and  sweeps  away  the  excellent  object, 
terrifying  the  stricken  admirers  with  the  display  of  its  pro- 
digious power. 

Yet  we  make  bold  to  say,  "  Where  is  thy  victory,  O  grave  ? 
Where,  0  death,  thy  sting  ?"  We  tell  death  to  the  face  that 
the  captives  whom  he  has  apparently  taken  are  not  to  be  found 
in  his  chambers.  In  fact  we  can  point  to  them  in  mansions 
where  death  has  no  admission.  We  can  show  the  Son  of  God, 
once  dead  on  Calvary,  standing  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Maj- 
esty on  high.  And  with  him  the  saints  redeemed  from  the 
earth,  the  noble,  the  beautiful,  the  virtuous,  dwelling  in  habita- 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  391 

dons  not  made  with  hands,  clothed  in  purity,  exempt  from 
pain  and  sorrow,  and  not  at  all  despondent  because  of  their 
mortal  remains  sleeping  in  dust.  How  art  thou  become  a  pic- 
ture of  confusion,  0  death,  standing  there  with  a  crumbling 
bone  in  thy  hand  and  looktng  at  a  celestial  being  walking  amid 
the  groves  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  once  connected  with  earthly 
life  by  that  bone,  now  wearing  many  crowns  of  perfection  be- 
stowed by  him  who  died  and  rose  again  !  After  having  con- 
quered all,  behold,  thou  art  thyself  conquered,  and  a  new  in- 
violable life  given  to  those  who  once  succumbed  to  thee.  Be- 
hold the  keys  of  death  and  hades  are  in  the  hands  of  our  Lord ; 
and  what  wonder  if  hereafter  thou  shouldst  be  compelled  to 
restore  even  the  dust  of  the  once  dead.  Sweep  as  thou  wilt 
with  thy  scythe  from  pole  to  pole ;  there  is  a  sword  impending 
over  thee.  Thou  thyself  shalt  die.  What  canst  thou  do  to 
him  whose  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God  ?  He  will  sit  upon 
a  throne  in  the  day  when  thou  shalt  be  driven  to  darkness. 


November  26. — "  Them  also  who  sleep  in  Jesus,  -will  God  bring  with 
him." — 1  Thessalonians  iv.  14. 

The  Jews  who  gnashed  with  their  teeth  on  Stephen,  hurried 
him  forth  without  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  and  stoned  him  to 
death  with  a  fury  like  that  with  which  they  had  crucified  his 
master  and  forerunner,  would  have  been  confounded  to  learn 
that  the  stoned  Stephen  was  after  all  not  dead,  but  sleeping  a 
heavenly  and  exquisite  sleep.  They  will  see  him  when  he 
awakes ;  when  he  comes  forth  again,  his  spirit  from  the  cham- 
bers of  the  skies,  his  dust  from  the  chambers  of  earth  j  when 
Stephen,  with  his  face  shining  indeed  like  that  of  an  angel, 
cometh  with  the  thousands  of  saints  and  with  the  king  of 
saints.  This  sleep  of  the  righteous  is  simply  with  reference 
to  this  world ;  they  are  disrobed  for  a  season  from  this  visible 
scene ;  they  are  in  a  slumber  so  that  we  cannot  hold  converse 


392  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

witli  them.  Their  awakening  has  also  reference  to  this  earth ; 
they  are  to  come  again  with  powers  sublimely  recruited.  But 
while  asleep  with  reference  to  us,  they  are  awake  with  refer- 
ence to  heaven.  They  are  with  the  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect. 

The  advent  we  look  for  is  the  advent  of  all  the  good.  Yie 
look  back  to  them  in  history;  we  look  forward  to  them  in 
prophecy.  Their  advent  will  be  a  baptism  of  fire  for  this 
earth.  Heaven  will  come  with  them.  The  throne  of  Grod 
with  them ;  Christ  with  them.  Shall  we  be  there  ?  When 
the  Lamb's  book  of  life  is  opened,  shall  our  names  be  read 
off?  If  we  now  live  in  Jesus,  we  shall  sleep  in  Jesus,  and 
afterwards  appear  with  him  in  glory. 


November  27. — "  I  am  he  that  liveth  and  was  dead." — Revelation  i.  18. 

Yes  Lord,  the  fact  of  thy  death  is  an  inextinguishable  fact. 
Nothing  is  more  impossible,  more  inconceivable,  than  that  the 
prints  of  the  nails  should  be  effaced  from  thy  hand,  the  mem- 
ory of  thy  agony  from  thy  heart  or  from  thy  Father's  heart, 
the  chants  of  angels  and  redeemed  ones  die  out  and  leave  no 
echo  in  heaven.  The  story  of  the  cross  has  indeed  inwoven 
itself  with  all  existences ;  the  whole  universe  has  bathed  in  it 
and  got  a  richer  life.  Thy  death  is  the  expression  of  divine 
love  to  me;  and  I  have  consequently  a  most  profound  interest, 
in  the  memorials  of  that  death.  Thy  cross  does  not  merely 
tell  of  God,  but  of  me ;  of  Grod's  love  to  me ;  and  when  thou 
sayest,  "  I  am  alive  for  evermore,"  that  is  the  same  as  saying, 
God's  love  for  me  liveth  for  evermore.  God  and  I  live  together 
in  thee.  The  story  of  the  cross  is  the  story  of  me;  it  is  my 
name  and  my  magnificent  destinies  that  are  inwoven  with 
all  existences,  mentioned  in  all  chants  of  heaven.  There  is 
not  an  angel  of  heaven  that  would  venture  to  remain  ignorant 
of  me.     For,  Christ  tasted  death  for  me. 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  393 

November  28. — "My  mercy  will  I  keep  for  him  for  evermore." — Psalm 
Ixxxix.  28. 

Ever  bestowed,  never  exhausted.  The  vessel  that  contains 
it  is  one  that  can  never  be  eusptied.  God  himself  is  a  vessel 
of  mercy  to  communicate  mercy  to  me ;  and  I  am  a  vessel  of 
mercy  to  receive  that  mercy.  To  say  that  God  will  keep  mercy 
is  to  say  that  God  will  keep  himself.  There  is  mercy  in  him  • 
and  I  am  its  object.  Mercy  first  makes  me  an  appropriate 
object  for  itself,  and  ever  after  keeps  me  so.  I  can  say  to  my 
soul,  "  Soul,  thou  hast  much  goods  laid  up  for  many  years : 
laid  up  too  in  a  granary  safer  than  any  granary  of  earth ; 
enough  for  thy  wants  in  time  and  in  eternity ;  eat,  drink,  and 
take  thine  ease.  Eat  the  food  of  angels ;  drink  the  water  of 
life ;  experience  the  true  rest  of  the  soul  in  Christ." 


November  29. — "  The  Lord  hath  set  apart  him  that  is  godly  for  him- 
self."—Psalm  iv.  3. 

Set  him  apart  by  making  him  godly ;  teaching  him  to  set 
his  affections  upon  things  above ;  to  hunger  and  thirst  after 
righteousness ;  to  count  all  things  worthless  in  comparison  with 
the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ;  to  meditate  dny 
and  night  in  God's  word ;  to  cultivate  a  prayerful  habit  of 
mind ;  to  delight  in  the  society  of  the  people  of  God ;  and  to 
hold  all  personal  interests  of  trivial  moment  in  comparison  with 
the  interests  of  the  Gospel,  the  extension  of  Christ's  kingdom, 
the  salvation  of  souls.  Take  a  worldly  man  in  the  midst  of 
worldly  companions;  with  them  seeking  now  pleasure,  now 
wealth,  now  renown;  with  them  despising  the  Bible  and  the 
men  that  reverence  it.  Let  now  an  arrow  from  the  quiver  of 
the  Almighty,  an  arrow  dipped  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  wing 
its  way  to  his  heart.  Suddenly  a  mighty  revolution  is  wrought 
in  that  heart.  Kepentance  creates  a  perfect  anarchy,  and  faith 
erects  the  throne  of  God ;  he  is  now  a  new  man,  a  godly  man. 


394  DAILY  MEDITATIONS. 

He  begins  with  joy  to  relate  his  new  experiences  to  his  com- 
panions ;  they  listen  with  amazement ;  draw  off  to  a  little  dis- 
tance to  see  if  the  fit  will  pass ;  and  when  they  find  him  a 
veritable  believer,  an  enthusiastic  and  incurable  servant  of 
Christ,  they  flee  far  from  him  as  though  he  were  a  leper.  It 
is  not  that  he  is  alienated  from  them,  that  he  takes  no  longer 
an  interest  in  them ;  he  takes,  it  is  likely,  a  deeper  interest  in 
them  than  ever  he  did  before;  but  his  new  feelings,  aims, 
tastes  are  such  as  they  cannot  at  all  sympathize  with.  Thus 
he  is  set  apart. 

But  he  is  set  apart  for  the  Lord.  For  the  Lord  to  bless. 
To  receive  the  manifestations  of  Grod.  To  understand  the  de- 
signs of  God.  To  be  comforted  by  the  promises  of  Grod.  To 
be  the  servant  of  God,  his  witness,  his  steward,  his  son.  To 
declare  the  Gospel.  To  be  the  depository  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
To  suffer.  To  be  poor  in  spirit.  To  search  the  word.  To 
run  the  race  of  glory.  To  come  off  conqueror.  To  inherit 
all  things. 

Perhaps,  0  reader,  you  are  not  thus  set  apart.  You  are  at 
home  in  the  world,  and  the  world  is  at  home  with  you.  You 
are  of  it.  There  is  nothing  that  jars  in  your  intercourse  with 
it.  And  perhaps  you  know  of  some  one  that  is  set  apart  from 
you  and  your  world.  You  feel  that  there  is  a  wall  betwixt 
him  and  you,  a  high  impracticable  wall.  What  he  loves,  you 
cannot  love ;  what  he  beholds,  you  care  not  to  behold ;  what 
he  disdains,  you  value ;  and  what  he  flees  from,  you  allow. 
You  know  that  he  was  not  always  thus ;  and  there  is  something 
deep  within  you  testifying  that  nothing  less  than  a  divine  power 
has  wrought  this  change.  Now  if  God  hath  set  him  apart 
for  himself,  what  is  your  condition  ?  He  has  been  taken  and 
you  have  been  left.  He  has  been  taken  for  God;  you  have 
been  left  for  Satan.  He  has  been  taken  for  mercy,  you  have 
been  left  for  wrath.  The  ark  has  received  him,  the  deluge 
awaits  you.     He  has  been  sealed  with  the  seal  of  God ;  the 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  395 

destroying  angel  will  pass  by  him  and  speed  to  you  on  wliose 
forehead  is  not  seen  the  name  of  God. 


November  30. — *'  The  peace  of  God  which  passeth  all  understanding." 
— Philippians  iv.  7. 

It  is  possible  that  by  the  peace  of  God  is  here  meant  the 
friendship,  the  amity  of  God.  To  get  anything  like  a  concep- 
tion of  the  peace  of  God,  it  is  needful  to  know  the  barrier  of 
enmity  once  existing  between  you  and  God.  We  may  view 
the  barrier  which  you  erected  around  yourself  to  hinder  God 
from  approaching  you,  to  exclude  his  messengers,  his  word,  the 
voice  of  his  providence,  his  law,  his  summons  to  judgment, 
every  remembrancer  of  him.  Or,  we  may  contemplate  the 
tremendous  rampart,  higher  than  the  highest  heaven,  deeper 
than  the  lowest  hell,  built  by  the  perfections  of  God 'around 
liis  inviolable  majesty,  forbidding  every  transgressor  even  to 
look  upon  him ;  of  which  not  the  combined  force  of  all  angels 
within,  or  of  all  devils  without,  would  ever  have  removed  one 
stone.  But  this  mighty  middle  wall  of  partition,  Christ,  des- 
ignated the  Breaker,  hath  pierced  with  gateways,  adorned  with 
gates  of  pearl ;  and  every  several  stone,  once  breathing  defi- 
ance, is  now  made  transparent  for  the  smile  of  God  to  come 
through  to  you,  and  for  the  vision  of  your  everlasting  inherit- 
ance to  stream  upon  you.  Truly  such  a  peace  as  this  abso- 
lute peace  between  the  most  Holy  One  and  you,  a  once  rebel- 
lious worm,  passeth  understanding.  This  amity  is  not  a  merely 
negative  thing,  not  merely  the  removal  of  wrath.  This  peace 
of  God  is  like  music.  Harmony  is  the  perfection  of  sound, 
not  the  absence  of  sound.  The  return  to  the  soul  of  God,  in 
peace,  leads  at  once  to  an  ineifable  discourse,  a  melodious  com- 
merce of  the  two  spirits  finite  and  infinite.  And  not  only  so ; 
but  this  peace  begets  another  peace  (if  it  be  another)  between 
the  various  souls  thus  reconciled  to  God.     They  are  so  brought 


396  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

together  in  harmony  that  a  marvellons  correspondence  of  love 
spontaneously  commences.  Separated  formerly  by  a  multitude 
of  individual  interests,  they  now  love  one  another  in  fervor 
and  purity.  There  is  a  harmony  in  the  dififerent  powers  and 
appetites  of  the  individual  soul.  There  is  peace  within;  peace 
wdth  God,  peace  with  the  people  of  God.  This  spiritual  music 
beginning  at  the  throne  of  God  and  flowing  through  all  godly 
souls  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  and  returning  to  the  great  source 
again,  is  by  the  unreconciled  unheard,  unsuspected ;  it  passeth 
understanding. 


December  1. — "  The  eyes  of  the  Lord  are  over  the  righteous,  and  his 
cars  are  open  unto  their  prayers." — 1  Peter  iii.  12. 

This  is  a  truth  quite  distinct  from  that  of  the  omniscience 
of  God.  That  God  should  be  omniscient  is  one  thing ;  that 
his  omniscience  should  be  for  me,  is  another  thing.  Yes,  it  is 
a  sublime  proposition  that  omniscience  and  omnipotence  should 
enter  into  everlasting  alliance  with  the  weakness  and  blindness 
of  a  creature.  The  righteous  ones  here  spoken  of  are  they 
that  fling  away  their  own  righteousness  as  dross,  and  make 
themselves  very  insignificant.  It  is  not  because  they  are  wise 
that  heavenly  wisdom  wings  its  way  to  them ;  not  because  they 
are  good  and  strong  that  divine  goodness  and  power  are  their 
perpetual  auxiliaries.  You  need  not  envy  them  the  attention 
they  receive  from  the  King  of  kings ;  they  would  never  have 
been  noticed  by  him  if  they  had  had  any  such  righteousness 
as  you  boast  of. 

How  hard  it  is  for  you  to  see  what  is  the  true  life  divinely 
appointed  for  man  and  hastily  relinquished  by  him.  Man's 
perfection  is  something  utterly  difierent  from  what  man  con- 
siders it  to  be.  Man  goes  on  building  himself  up  in  goodness. 
He  expects  or  aims  to  carry  his  edifice  to  the  skies.  A  little 
more  and  I  shall  be  there,  he  says  as  often  as  he  puts  down 
one  new  stone.     He  does  not  take  note  that  the  heavens  are 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  397 

rising  above  liim.  Tliougli  a  thousand  giants  should  undertake 
to  help  with  his  tower,  and  should  carry  it  to  the  height  of  a 
mile,  would  he  be  any  nearer  the  heavens  ?  Mount  Blanc 
would  look  down  in  pity  and  tell  him  of  the  moon  a  quarter 
of  a  million  of  miles  high.  The  moon  would  look  down  in 
pity  and  tell  him  of  the  sun  a  hundred  millions  of  miles  high. 
The  sun  would  look  down  in  pity  and  tell  him  of  Saturn  a 
thousand  millions  away.  And  Saturn  would  say,  "  We  are  in 
the  lowest  depths  of  the  heavens.  Ascend  to  us  and  your  ele- 
vation will  be,  in  comparison  with  the  starry  heavens,  as  the 
tiniest  ant-hill  in  comparison  with  Chimborazo."  For  six 
thousand  years  humanity  has  been  possessed  by  this  mad  dream 
of  a  perfection  starting  from  earth  and  growing  up  into  the 
heavens.  It  is  a  forlorn  error.  No,  the  perfection  of  humanity 
is  in  giving  way  to  God.  Cast  down,  cast  down  that  paltry 
edifice ;  give  up  the  notion  of  your  own  independent  goodness ; 
and  make  room  for  the  goodness  of  Grod  in  you.  Let  God 
work  in  you  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure.  And 
think  not  that  this  self-renunciation  is  death ;  it  is  the  true 
life ;  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  is  life  indeed ;  the  energy  of 
God  is  energy  indeed ;  and  the  moral  beauty  of  God  is  moral 
beauty  indeed. 

December  2. — "Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  but  my  words  shall 
not  pass  away." — Matthew  xxiv.  35. 

On  the  day  when  these  words  were  spoken,  had  it  been  an- 
nounced in  Rome  that  there  was  one  then  speaking  whose 
words  would  never  pass  away,  some  would  have  said,  "  It  must 
be  the  Emperor,  his  words  will  outlive  all."  Others  would  have 
fixed  upon  a  certain  historian ;  others  upon  an  orator ;  others 
upon  a  poet.  But  no  one  would  have  conceived  that  a  despised 
Galilean  seated  upon  a  hill  opposite  Jerusalem,  and  conversing 
with  his  disciples,  was  speaking  'words  that  would  outlive  all 
others.  The  speaker  died  by  the  hands  of  men  3  he  passed 
34 


898  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

away  from  eartli ;  but  his  words  have  been  living  in  the  world 
with  a  most  tremendous  life  from  that  day  to  this.  They  smote 
Judaism;  they  went  forth  and  assailed  all  religions  of  the 
earth ;  they  returned  and  overthrew  Jerusalem ;  they  wrestled 
with  Rome  in  her  pride  and  overcame  her ;  the  mightiest  sys- 
tems fled  from  before  them ;  they  made  the  wilderness  to  blos- 
som as  the  rose.  After  the  lapse  of  eighteen  centuries  our 
report  is  this,  that  every  day  eight  thousand  copies  of  the 
Scriptures,  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  are  added  to  the  many 
millions  already  existing  in  hundreds  of  languages. 

Especially,  had  the  philosophers  of  Athens  and  of  Rome 
heard  the  words  of  which  this  immortality  and  universal  vic- 
tory were  predicted,  would  they  have  deemed  their  fulfilment 
incredible.  That  he  should  be  crucified  and  his  doctrine  be 
none  the  less  promulgated ;  that  his  disciples  should  be  hated 
of  all  men,  yet  should  none  the  less  spend  their  time  and 
strength  in  preaching  his  gosp^ ;  that  the  Jews  should  be  car- 
ried captive  into  all  lands ;  and  a  multitude  of  other  things 
of  equally  improbable  realization,  were  distinctly  foretold  by 
him. 

What  a  wonderful  thing  that  we  should  be  in  the  world 
along  with  these  all-conquering  words.  A  legion  of  angels 
would  not  effect  such  changes  in  the  successive  generations  of 
men,  as  these  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  We  have  something 
that  will  outlive  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  will  judge  us, 
you  and  me,  in  the  last  day. 


December  3. — "  He  that  believetli  not  is  condemned  already.*' — John 
iii.  18. 

He  has  pronounced  his  own  condemnation.  Christ  is  the 
test  of  all  men  and  of  all  things.  Every  man  that  hears  of 
Christ,  discovers  the  outline  of  his  character,  gets  a  vision  of 
his  voluntary  suff"ering,  and  death,  and  glorious  resurrection, 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  399 

and  unchanging  love,  and  yet  believes  not  on  him,  every  such 
man  declares  himself  to  be  unworthy  of  everlasting  life. 
There  is  no  affinity  between  him  and  Christ,  and  it  is  easily 
calculated,  therefore,  what  are  his  true  affinities.  There  is  no 
need  for  him  to  perpetrate  any  signal  act  of  infamy  in  order 
to  bring  down  condemnation  on  himself.  God  has  drawn  nigh 
to  him  in  the  person  of  the  Son ;  and,  before  the  essential  per- 
fections of  deity,  this  man  has  not  bowed  the  knee.  When 
Christ  appears  in  glory,  of  course  every  knee  shall  bow ;  but 
in  the  case  of  many  this  tardy  homage  will  be  no  homage.  It 
is  not  because  of  his  dazzling  glory  and  irresistible  sovereignty 
that  Grod  claims  to  be  honored  and  adored;  but  because  of  his 
moral  excellencies,  because  of  the  attributes  that  were  revealed 
upon  the  cross. 


December  4. — "Unto  the  upright  there  ariseth  light  in  the  darkness." 
— Psalm  cxii.  4. 

There  was  thick  darkness  no  doubt  in  the  den  where  Daniel 
lay ;  in  the  dungeon  where  Paul  and  Silas  sat ;  and  in  the  liv- 
ing prison  where  Jonah  was  confined.  There  is  no  light  so 
beautiful,  so  precious  as  that  which  ariseth  to  make  glad  the 
countenance  of  the  righteous  as  he  gropes  in  darkness.  He 
says,  "  It  is  well  for  me  that  I  have  had  experience  of  the 
darkness  that  I  might  be  enraptured  with  the  light."  Before 
the  light  ariseth,  there  must  be  a  victory  of  faith  in  his  soul. 
He  must  acquiesce  in  the  darkness  for  the  sake  of  him  that 
sent  it.  He  must  say,  "  This  is  the  proper  place,  the  proper 
condition  for  me."  He  must  wrap  his  calamity  about  him  like 
a  cloak,  because  of  him  who  hath  sent  it.  Thus  a  day-star 
arises  in  his  heart ;  after  that  the  day  breaks  for  him.  If  the 
light  that  is  in  you  be  darkness  how  great  is  that  darkness. 
The  Holy  Grhost  lighteth  up  a  light  within  you,  whose  mild 
radiance  will  go  far  to  dissipate  your  surrounding  darkness. 


400  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

If  you  muffle  up  this  inner  lantern,  in  vain  will  you  wait  for 
light  to  arise  externally  upon  your  path. 


December  5. — "  They  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the 
firmament,  and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness,  as  the  stars  forever 
and  ever." — Daniel  xii.  3. 

If  we  could  look  into  the  books  of  immortality,  and  turn 
ovjr  its  pages  of  the  future,  and  trace  the  paths  of  light  be- 
longing to  the  names  that  are  now  ascendant  in  our  skies,  we 
should  see  them  to  be  of  length  unequal :  one  brilliant  lumi- 
nary of  our  day  soon  vanishing  into  night,  and  another  passing 
on,  but  sooner  or  later,  like  all  the  rest  disappearing  from  the 
heaven  of  fame.  But  when  the  lights  of  this  world  shall  have 
gone  out,  then  will  be  seen  coming  up  in  indescribable  splen- 
dor and  overwhelming  glory,  the  names  that  have  nothing  now 
connected  with  them  but  ignominy  and  obscurity.  Then  will 
it  be  known  who  are  the  wise ;  and  men  will  marvel  that  they 
should  have  ever  remained  ignorant  a  single  moment  of  this 
unquestionable  truth,  that  they  who  turn  many  to  righteous- 
ness are  wise  above  all  others. 


December  6. — "  The  Lord  loveth  judgment  and  forsaketh  not  his  saints." 
Psalm  xxxvii.  28. 

The  faithfulness  of  the  Lord  to  his  people  is  secured  not 
more  by  the  fact  that  he  delighteth  in  mercy  than  by  the  fact 
that  he  loveth  judgment.  The  propitiation  made  for  sin  is  so 
effectual  that  by  it  all  the  perfections  of  God  become  pledged 
to  promote  the  everlasting  interests  of  those  who  believe.  It 
is  God  in  the  unlimited  fulness  of  his  nature,  not  a  part  of 
God,  that  is  made  favorable  to  the  sinner  b}^  the  blood  of  Jesus 
The  believer  should  understand  that  he  is  not  taking  refuge  in 
one  perfection  of  God  against  another;  but  that  it  is   God 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  401 

Himself,  witli  all  his  attributes,  tliat  is  reconciled  to  liim.  Be- 
fore lie  was  clothed  with  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  every 
divine  attribute  was  against  him ;  love  as  well  as  justice.  And 
after  he  is  brought  nigh  through  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  the 
justice  as  well  as  love  of  God  guarantees  his  safety  and  bless- 
edness. 

Consider  and  confess :  dost  thou  not  feel,  speak  and  act,  in 
thy  intercourse  with  God,  as  though  there  were  but  a  partial 
reconciliation,  as  though  in  Christ  there  had  accrued  to  thee 
but  a  small  measure  of  the  divine  benignity?  Does  it  not 
seem  to  thee  when  thou  wouldst  appfopriate  largely  of  the 
grace  of  God,  as  though  his  justice  interposed  and  said, 
"Enough  V  Does  not  the  holiness  of  God,  in  thy  conception, 
take  out  from  every  promise  its  largest  benison  and  give  thee 
a  husk  ?  If  so,  then  there  is  a  grievous  wrong  continually 
done  by  thee  to  the  Lamb  that  was  slain,  and  to  every  perfec- 
tion of  God.  Is  God  divided  ?  Did  Christ  die  to  obtain  for 
thee  the  crumbs  that  fall  from  his  Father's  table,  and  is  it 
necessary  that  another  Christ  should  die  to  obtain  for  thee 
permission  to  sit  down  as  a  guest,  as  a  child  ? 

If  there  be  in  us  a  genuine  faith  in  Christ,  then  is  God 
wholly  ours.  Christ  himself  has  not  a  more  infinite  love  to 
expatiate  in  than  the  meanest  believer  hath.  God  is  recon- 
ciled to  us,  or  he  is  not.  If  reconciled,  then  every  promise  is 
ours  in  its  utmost  conceivable  amplitude.  We  are  as  free  to 
take  of  the  water  of  life  as  Paul  was,  or  as  John  was.  One 
disciple  is  designated  "  the  beloved"  because  he  has  a  singular 
faith.  We  must  believe  the  love  that  God  hath  towards  us, 
and  then  we  have  the  love. 

There  are  many  who  wonder  that  they  experience  in  such 
feeble  measure  the  power  of  divine  truth  to  animate  and  ele- 
vate and  bless  their  souls.  They  marvel  that  they  should  daily 
be  in  communion  with  him  at  whose  right  hand  are  pleasures 
for  evermore,  with  whom  is  the  fountain  of  life,  yet  that  they 
34  * 


402  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

should  be  so  unacquainted  with  the  joy  unspeakable  that  many 
saints  have  experienced.  But  how  could  it  be  otherwise? 
Unbelief  nullifies  God.  Faith  finds  a  living  God.  God  gives 
himself  as  faith  gives  itself  Where  there  is  but  a  little  faith, 
the  tide  of  divine  love  is  constrained  to  narrow  itself  down 
accordingly.  But  God  is  there,  even  the  same  God  whose 
smile  enraptures  the  seraphim.  Christ  has  brought  you  to 
him  and  to  the  infinite  fulness  of  his  nature.  God  is  not  in 
your  future ;  he  is  in  your  present.  Listen  no  longer  to  the 
lie  of  unbelief,  but  understand  that  there  is  even  now  for  you, 
this  day,  this  hour,  the  love  wherewith  the  Father  loved  Christ. 
You  have  not  a  hUf  Christ;  you  have  not  a  portion  of  God. 


December  7. — "  The  steps  of  a  good  man  are  ordered  by  the  Lord,  and 
he  delighteth  in  his  way." — ^salm  xxxvii.  23. 

A  good  man  is  one  whose  steps  are  ordered  by  the  Lord. 
Having  come  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  none  good  but 
God,  he  has  sought  such  an  alliance  with  God  as  secures  to 
him  the  benefit  of  the  divine  goodness.  A  good  man  is  one 
in  whom  you  can  behold  the  goodness  of  the  Lord.  To  the 
world's  apprehension  a  good  man  is  one  who  is  able  to  order 
his  steps  aright,  able  of  himself  to  know  and  to  pursue  the 
best  path.  This  is  a  fundamental  error ;  and  religion  can  only 
begin  with  its  overthrow. 

God  has  a  book  in  which  is  written  the  ideal  history  of  every 
man ;  the  biography  as  it  would  have  been  had  the  man's  steps 
been  ordered  by  the  Lord ;  and  another  in  which  is  written 
the  actual  history  of  every  man.  The  books  are  open  side  by 
side,  and  what  a  contrast  do  they  present.  "  Oh  that  they  had 
hearkened  to  my  commandments  I"  saith  the  Lord ;  nor  is  it 
possible  for  any  one  to  look  upon  tliese  two  records  without 
taking  up  the  lamentation.  What  a  hallowed  and  beautiful 
path  is  traced  in  the  one ;  what  honorable  conflicts  and  glorious 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  403 

victories;  what  nobleness  of  enterprise,  what  steadfastness 
under  difficulties,  what  beneficence,  what  usefulness  !  What  a 
sublime  romance  !  What  genuine  heroism  !  What  a  utiliza- 
tion of  the  man's  faculties  !  What  wealth  of  influence  poured 
around  !  In  comparison  with  this  divine  romance,  behold  the 
actual  life  portrayed  in  the  other  book.  How  mean  !  how  con- 
temptible !  how  disordered !  What  fearful  confusion  !  What 
awful  plunges  into  vanity !  What  wild  pursuit  of  phantoms ! 
What  Herculean  strife  with  windmills !  What  a  waste  of 
faculties  !  What  blundering  even  in  the  matter  of  doing  good ! 
What  shipwreck  of  unpiloted  affections  kt"What  torment  of 
unintelligible  aspirations ! 

Suppose  the  book  of  your  ideal  biography  should  drop  from 
heaven  upon  your  path.  You,  with  your  worldly  and  gross 
heart,  take  it  up  and  look  into  it  j  at  first  seeing  a  good  deal 
about  tribulation,  privation,  per^cution,  bonds,  defamation, 
poverty,  and  tears,  you  are  ready  to  throw  it  away.  But  stay, 
my  friend ;  it  is  from  heaven ;  see  if  there  be  not  something 
precious  coupled  with  these  expressions.  At  one  end  of  a 
sentence  you  find,  "  they  that  mourn,"  "  poor  in  spirit,"  "  they 
that  are  persecuted,"  "through  much  tribulation;"  but  what  at 
the  other  end?  "Joy,"  "blessedness,"  "kingdom  of  heaven." 
Remember  the  disordered  steps  of  your  past  life.  See  how 
much  misery  you  have  experienced,  even  in  the  path  of  your 
own  gratification.  How  unsatisfactory  is  the  retrospect.  Are 
you  not  willing  to  live  the  life  that  God  has  sketched  for  you  ? 
Take  this  book  and  live  this  life ;  and  your  biography  will  be 
a  valuable  contribution  to  the  libraries  of  heaven.  Angels 
v/ili  read  it  and  find  in  it  all  the  elements  of  beauty,  nobleness, 
sublimity. 

This  your  ideal  life  is  written  in  the  Gospel.  May  God  help 
you  to  see  it  there,  and  to  give  it  actuality  in  what  remains  of 
your  mortal  term. 


404  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

December  8. — "In  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  strong  confidence,  and  his 
shildren  shall  have  a  place  of  refuge." — Proverbs  xiv,  26. 

The  best  tiling  that  a  man  can  do  for  his  children,  is  to  fear 
the  Lord.  Piety  is  not  hereditary ;  but  there  is  a  strong  prob- 
ability that  the  children  of  a  truly  God-fearing  man,  will  be 
converted  and  brought  to  make  the  Lord  their  refuge.  Yet 
how  many  there  are  who  make  the  alleged  interests  of  their 
children  a  pretext  for  not  giving  themselves  and  all  they  have 
unreservedly  to  the  Lord.  They  would  lay  up  treasure  in 
heaven,  were  it  not  that  they  must  lay  up  for  their  children. 
Their  faith  is  sadly  defective.  The  very  efforts  they  are  mak- 
ing to  secure  a  portion  for  their  children  in  this  life,  tend  to 
hinder  the  transmission  of  an  everlasting  portion  to  them. 

A  parent  cannot  possibly  do  anything  better  for  his  child 
than  leave  to  him  an  example  of  simple  and  unworldly  faith. 
Like  Noah,  build  for  your  children  an  ark  of  safety  of  gopher 
wood,  rather  than  a  palace  of  brick  and  stone ;  haply  the  Lord 
may  incline  them  to  enter  it.  You  cannot  do  better  for  your 
children  than  to  show  them  that  there  is  something  in  your 
heart  more  sacred  than  even  the  love  of  children ;  and  that  is 
the  fear  of  the  Lord.  The  example  of  faith  is  the  best  of 
legacies.  See  to  it  that  as  far  as  your  labors  are  concerned, 
your  children  may  have  a  place  of  refuge  and  the  way  to  it  be 
unimpeded. 

December  9. — "  My  people  shall  be  satisfied  with  my  goodness,  saith 
the  Lord." — Jeremiah  xxxi.  14. 

The  Lord's  people  are  satisfied  with  his  goodness,  even  in 
this  life,  in  such  a  sense  that  they  willingly  forsake  all  and 
follow  him.  In  the  privation  of  all  other  things  they  are  still 
so  satisfied  with  the  love  of  their  divine  Saviour,  that  they 
cast  no  regretful  looks  behind.  Ah,  but  there  are  some,  es- 
teemed the  people  of  God,  who  seem  not  to  be  satisfied  with 
the  simple  goodness  of  their  heavenly  Father :   there  is  too 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  405 

manifest  a  grasping  after  tlie  riches  and  digniti-es  of  the  earth. 
Would  that  they  and  all  might  understand  that  if  they  only 
sought  to  know  more  of  the  love  of  God,  they  would  see  it  to 
be  satisfying. 

We  see  how  much  wisdom  was  given  to  Paul  when  he  was 
led  to  pray  that  he  and  others  might  know  more  of  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  love  of  God,  when  he  was  enabled  to  count 
all  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ. 
Of  course  it  is  impossible  to  be  satisfied  with  the  goodness  of 
the  Lord  if  we  do  not  know  that  goodness.  We  must  know 
and  believe  the  love  that  God  hath  towards  us.  When  a  cer- 
tain man  had  found  a  treasure  in  a  field,  he  went  with  joy  and 
sold  all  that  he  had  and  bought  that  field.  The  perception  of 
Christ's  love  to  them  individually,  is  vague  and  dim  on  the 
part  of  many ;  and  no  wonder  therefore  that  they  are  tormented 
with  so  many  vain  desires  and  imaginations.  But  this  word 
"  satisfied"  points  to  something  that  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear 
heard,  nor  heart  conceived.  To  be  contented  is  a  blessed  and 
beautiful  condition  of  the  soul;  but  do  not  suppose  that  it 
implies  the  extinction  of  desire.  Paul  was  a  person  of  singu- 
lar contentment,  and  of  singular  power  of  aspiration.  But  he 
that  has  provided  for  our  contentment  will  in  due  time  crown 
our  highest  aspirations.  He  has  shown  his  power  by  overcom- 
ing the  mighty  craving  of  our  soul  for  worldly  good ;  and  he 
will  show  his  power  hereafter  by  transcending  our  highest  con- 
ception of  happiness.  But  let  contentment  have  her  perfect 
work. 


December  10. — "  Our  Saviour  Jesus  Cbrist,  who  hath  abolished  death." — 
2  Timothy  i.  10. 

When  Adam  sinned  then  was  there  the  abolition  of  life. 
The  empire  of  death  began.  Death  advanced  by  steps.  There 
was  a  process  observed  in  the  establishment  of  his  kingdom. 


406  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

He  needed  subjects,  and  therefore  lie  did  not  cause  the  bodies 
of  Adam  and  Eve  to  crumble  to  dust  at  once.  He  showed 
what  he  could  do  when  Abel  fell  by  the  hand  of  his  brother. 
He  made  havoc  of  everything  heavenly  in  the  spiritual  nature 
of  man ;  brought  out  his  instruments  of  torture  to  assail  and 
overthrow  his  physical  glory ;  and  went  forth  conquering  and 
to  conquer.  But  Christ,  who  is  the  Life,  in  due  time  sets  up 
his  kingdom  of  life,  abolishing  death.  What  a  glorious  word 
for  the  confusion  of  the  great  abolisher ! — he  himself  must  be 
abolished. 

Death  was  once  between  me  and  Grod.  The  king  of  terrors 
had  pitched  his  throne  in  the  very  path,  the  only  one,  that  led 
to  God.  There  was  an  eclipse  of  God  unto  my  soul.  But 
Christ  abolished  death.  The  eclipse  passed.  The  favor  of 
God,  which  is  life,  reached  me  through  him  who  had  died  that 
death  might  be  crucified  in  him.  Then  contrition,  hope,  faith, 
love,  obedience,  and  other  tokens  of  the  new  creation  appeared 
in  me.  The  fear  of  death  is  abolished  by  him  who  hath  pre- 
pared a  place  for  me.  And  even  this  body  will  not  die,  no, 
not  a  hair  of  my  head  perish,  if  Christ  refuse  consent.  The 
world  to  which  we  aspire  is  not  an  undiscovered  country  from 
whose  bourne  no  tidings  have  been  wafted  back  to  us.  We 
are  conversant  with  it.  There  are  continents  on  this  globe 
about  which  we  do  not  know  so  much  as  we  do  about  that 
world.  We  are  acquainted  with  many  of  its  inhabitants  and 
with  the  life  they  lead.  We  know  their  manners  and  customs, 
their  laws  and  principles,  their  employments,  their  government; 
their  tastes  and  distastes ;  their  desires,  and  their  songs. 


December  11. — "The  cup  wtich  my  Father  hath  given  me,  shall  I  not 
drink  it?" — John  xviii.  11. 

Art  thou  unwilling,  0  believer,  to  drink  the  cup  which  thy 
Father  giveth  thee  ?     It  is  a  very  different  cup  from  that  which 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  407 

the  Saviour  consented  to  drink  for  thee.  It  is  wreathed  around 
with  the  declaration,  "  All  things  shall  work  together  for  good 
to  them  that  love  God."  It  comes  to  thee  by  the  hand  of 
Jesus,  the  hand  that  was  pierced  for  thee.  In  it'  you  behold 
as  in  a  transparency  a  crown  of  glory  that  fadeth  not  away, 
purchased  for  you  by  the  Saviour's  righteousness.  He  that 
spared  not  his  own  Son  for  you,  who  was  so  tender  of  you  as 
to  suffer  his  Son  to  hang  in  your  place,  can  you  suspect  him 
of  offering  you  a  cup  of  poison  ?  What  an  unpardonable  in- 
*  suit  were  this  to  offer  to  your  heavenly  Father  !  Yet  just  such 
insults  are  daily  offered  by  those  who  reject  the  cup  which  their 
Father  presents  them,  and  steal  away  to  some  other  path  that 
they  may  not  have  to  drink  this  cup. 

To  look  upon  an  affliction  as  indicative  of  alienated  feelings 
on  the  part  of  God,  is  base  indeed  for  those  who  profess  to 
believe  the  testimony  of  the  cross.  May  not  the  Father  and 
the  Saviour  be  trusted  to  govern  us,  to  guide  us,  correct  us, 
bless  us  ?  Shall  we  teach  them  what  our  interests  demand  ? 
Teach  him  who  is  Love,  what  is  the  way  of  love  ?  Does  the 
mother  not  know  what  the  child  can  bear  ?  You  have  been 
asking  for  precious  things ;  for  fruits  of  the  Spirit ;  for  love, 
joy,  and  peace;  for  knowledge,  strength,  and  patience;  for 
victory  and  glory ;  and  the  Lord  presents  you  with  a  cup  of 
humiliation  and  sorrow.  Instead  of  enriching  you  with  new 
hopes  and  joys  he  seems  to  come  to  you  for  the  purpose  of 
crushing  and  annihilating  the  few  that  you  have.  Neverthe- 
less, for  the  Father's  sake,  in  Christ's  name,  take  the  cup. 
Have  you  not  agreed  to  surrender  life's  joys  and  treasures  when 
he  that  gave  them  demands  them  again  ?  "What  is  the  mean- 
ing of  the  faith  you  profess,  but  just  this,  that  as  you  have  let 
God  choose  for  you  a  Saviour  and  a  way  of  life,  so  you  are  to 
let  him  choose  for  you  all  your  circumstances,  all  your  experi- 
ences. Take  the  cup  and  drink  it.  Lo !  one  by  one,  the 
precious  things  you  were  demanding,  are  found  to  have  been 


408  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

in  tlie  cup,  and  to  Lave  been  communicated  by  means  of  it. 
So  that  the  great  and  unendurable  affliction  from  which  you 
shrank,  is  ascertained  at  last  to  be  tlie  greatest  of  all  your 
blessings,  and  to  stand  in  the  retrospect  of  your  life  a  monu- 
ment to  the  riches  of  divine  grace,  towering  high  above  all 
the  other  monuments  of  your  path. 

May  we  have  wisdom  to  choose  the  very  cup  which  the 
Father  chooseth  for  us.  Balaam  had  not  this ;  and  entreated 
God  to  choose  rather  for  him  the  cup  which  he,  Balaam,  de- 
sired for  himself.  Seeing  that  Balaam  had  more  confidence  ' 
in  his  own  wisdom  and  discrimination  than  in  God's,  God  at 
length  suffered  Balaam  to  have  the  cup  of  his  own  choice; 
and  all  know  the  melancholy  results.  And  may  there  not  be 
around  us  Christians  whose  cup  is  of  their  own  choice  rather 
than  God's,  who  have  taken  the  cup  out  of  the  left  hand  of 
God,  and  are  living  lives  of  worldly  ease  and  dignity  and  afflu- 
ence, felicitating  themselves  that  they  are  exempt  from  so  many 
bitternesses  that  once  fell  to  the  lot  of  Christians ;  and  all 
because  they  had  not  wisdom  to  see  a  cup,  preferred  of  God, 
in  his  right  hand  ?  The  words  "  much  tribulation"  written 
over  the  gate  of  an  avenue,  almost  of  themselves  carry  con- 
viction to  the  minds  of  many  Christians  that  such  an  avenue 
is  not  the  one  that  they  are  called  to  pursue.  Are  we  of  their 
number  ?  Or  of  the  number  of  those  who  have  it  profoundly 
engraved  in  their  conviction  that  the  will  of  the  Lord,  what- 
ever its  aspect,  is  the  one  path  of  life,  and  that  the  greatest 
of  all  calamities  is  when  we  get  God  to  deal  with  us  after  our 
own  wisdom,  and  to  lead  us  in  the  pathway  of  our  own  crude 
desires  ? 


December  12. — "  The  Lord  is  thy  keeper." — Psalm  cxxi.  5. 

Thou  art  willing  to  be  kept  by  him.     Thou  knowest  thine 
own  helplessness  and  ignorance ;  the  power  and  malignity  of 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  409 

tlie  adversary;  tlie  sufficiency,  love  and  faithfulness  of  tlie 
Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  the  reality  of  the  Spirit ;  thou  distinguish- 
est  his  still,  small  voice  3  the  word  of  God  is  a  lamp  to  thy 
feet  'j  thou  meditatest  therein  day  and  night ;  thou  hast  the 
shield  of  faith.  Thou  knowest  the  voice  of  thy  keeper,  and 
knowest  not  the  voice  of  strangers.  In  prosperity,  in  adver- 
sity, and  in  the  intervening  lulls,  thou  dost  equally  seek  the 
guidance  and  help  of  the  good  Shepherd.  He  is  now  thy 
keeper ;  and  therefore  it  is  certain  that  in  that  day  of  unutter- 
able wrath  which  is  so  fast  hastening  to  break  upon  the  earth, 
he  will  keep  thee  in  all  serenity  and  security. 


December  13. — "  For  the  same  Lord  over  all  is  rich  unto  all  that  call 
upon  him." — Romans  x.  12. 

There  is  a  beautiful  conception  of  the  character  of  Grod  in- 
volved in  the  use  of  the  word  "rich"  in  this  connection.  For 
he  is  said  to  be  rich  not  in  respect  of  what  he  has,  but  of  what 
he  bestows.  Used  of  men  the  word  indicates  one  to  whom 
much  has  accrued ;  but  it  is  used  here  of  God  to  designate 
one  from  whom  infinite  wealth  of  blessing  accrues  to  the  sons 
of  men.  It  is  for  us  he  is  rich  3  his  wealth  is  ours ;  we  have 
a  marvellous  and  inexhaustible  treasury  in  him.  God,  in  fact, 
proposes  to  take  sinful  men  and  make  each  of  them  a  treasury 
full  of  the  wealth  of  God. 

He  is  rich  unto  all  that  call  upon  him.  They  call,  and  he 
answers  by  communications  of  his  wealth.  There  is  of  course 
an  agreement  between  God  and  them,  as  to  what  constitutes 
wealth.  They  have  been  taken  into  the  divine  laboratory,  and 
have  seen  the  various  things  called  wealth  in  earth  and  in 
heaven,  seen  them  subjected  to  powerful  tests  and  their  true 
nature  revealed.  What  is  called  wealth  among  men  has  lost 
its  value ;  for  they  have  seen  it  tested  by  an  infallible  chem- 
istry ;  and  especially  has  the  knowledge  of  heaven's  wealth 

35 


410  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

made  tliem  look  disparagingly  upon  it.  They  have  seen  and 
appropriated  the  jasper  of  faith;  the  sapphire  of  love;  the 
chalcedony  of  joy;  the  emerald  of  hope;  the  sardonyx  of 
humility;  the  sardius  of  self-knowledge;  the  chrysolite  of 
sincerity;  the  beryl  of  holiness;  the  topaz  of  contentment; 
the  chrysoprasus  of  long-suffering;  the  jacinth  of  patience; 
the  amethyst  of  self-denial.  To  the  eye  of  an  angel  they  have 
a  breast-plate  radiant  with  surpassing  riches ;  though  to  man 
they  may  seem  clothed  in  a  wretched  garb. 

The  same  God  is  rich  unto  all.  Oh,  let  us  entertain  no 
contracted  view  of  the  fulness  of  blessing  that  dwelleth  in  our 
reconciled  God !  Let  us  neither  exclude  ourselves,  nor  others. 
The  God  of  Daniel,  Paul,  and  John,  that  same  God  that  was 
found  so  rich  by  them  is  ours,  is  yours,  is  mine.  And  that 
same  God  whom  you  approach,  that  same  Saviour  in  whom  you 
delight,  is  your  neighbor's.  Oh,  what  a  bond  should  this  cre- 
ate between  you  and  him  !  The  same  love  that  fills  you  with 
such  rapture  is  shed  abroad  in  his  heart ;  the  same  visions  of 
a  beatific  hour  to  come  are  yours  and  his ;  the  same  sacred 
pierced  hand  that  fills  your  cup  each  morning  with  the  wine 
and  milk  of  divine  grace,  fills  his  cup.  Consider  this ;  and 
beware  how  you  look  coldly  on  him  on  whose  eye  of  faith  the 
smile  of  Christ  is  ever  breaking. 


December  14. — "Blessed  is  he  that  considereth  the  poor." — Psalm 
xli.  1. 

In  other  words,  blessed  is  he  that  blesseth.  Happy  is  he 
who  makes  it  his  chief  concern  to  bestow  happiness  on  others. 
Rich  is  he  who  seeks  to  enrich.  "  Consider  thyself,"  says  the 
world;  "study  the  advancement  of  thy  interests;  for  there  is 
none  to  do  thee  good  if  thou  neglect  thy  own  good.  Will  men 
sell  and  buy  for  thee  whilst  thou  art  busied  about  the  poor  ? 
Will  they  supply  thy  wardrobe  if  thou  empty  it  for  the  poor  ? 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  411 

Will  they  send  medicines  to  thee  and  a  physician,  when  thou 
forgettest  thy  health  in  solacing  the  miseries  of  others  ?  Con- 
sider the  poor,  of  course ;  but  take  good  care  that  considera- 
tion for  them  do  not  swallow  up  or  even  encroach  upon  a  due 
consideration  of  thyself,  thy  children,  thy  near  of  kin," 

In  opposition  to  all  this,  our  text,  like  many  others  in  the 
word  of  God,  teaches  us — if  we  suffer  ourselves  to  be  taught 
so  strange  a  truth,  so  hard  a  lesson, — that  he  best  considers 
himself  who  considers  the  poor  rather  than  himself,  and  makes 
it  his  chief  business  in  the  world  to  communicate  good  unto 
his  fellow-men.  For  the  poor  have  a  friend ;  even  God  the 
source  of  all  good ;  and  there  is  no  more  direct  way  to  the 
heart  of  God  than  to  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  our  fellow-men, 
to  deny  ourselves  for  the  good  of  others. 

Consider  the  poor ;  give  attention  to  them ;  study  their  ne- 
cessities; wisely  consult  as  to  the  best  mode  of  alleviating 
them.  Think  not  that  attention  is  wasted  when  given  to  the 
poor,  even  if  some  important  commercial  speculation  has  to 
wait.  What  the  word  of  God  says  in  general,  the  providence 
of  God  says  in  particular,  "  Consider  the  poor,"  says  the  former ; 
"  consider  this  poor  man,"  says  the  latter.  Indiscriminate  charity 
is  not  the  thing  here  commended.  The  vocation  of  a  Christian 
is  to  be  a  benefactor ;  and  this  being  his  vocation  he  is  not  to 
grudge  any  pains  that  may  be  required  in  order  to  ascertain 
who  are  the  really  needy,  and  what  the  most  effectual  way  of 
relieving  them. 

There  are  some  necessities  which  men  do  not  mention  be- 
cause they  do  not  feel.  They  know  not  their  spiritual  desti- 
tution J  and  they  know  not  the  bread  of  life  which  is  profitable 
for  this  world  and  for  that  which  is  to  come.  The  Christian 
is  to  consider  the  soul-penury  of  men,  and  tell  them  of  the 
banquet  of  life  which  Christ  has  spread  for  them.  In  this 
view  even  the  richest  of  our  fellow-men  are  poor  enough  and 
need  that  wc  should  consider  them.     Blessed  is  he  that  takes 


412  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

knowledge  of  the  necessities  of  his  fellow-men,  and  devotes 
himself  to  their  alleviation.  God  will  tate  knowledge  of  his 
necessities,  and  will  see  to  it  that  he  want  no  good  thing. 


December  15. — "  The  Lord  shall  preserve  thee  from  all  evil." — Psalm 
cxxi.  7. 

This  is  an  invitation  to  thee  to  give  over  the  keeping  of 
thyself  entirely  into  the  Lord's  hands.  Let  him  be  thy  keeper 
and  he  will  keep  thee  from  all  evil.  That  no  harm  ever  befals 
the  Christian,  cannot  be  said.  But  while  he  follows  that  which 
is  good,  no  harm  befals  him.  While  he  suffers  the  Lord  to 
guide  him,  he  is  preserved  infallibly. 

It  is  only  by  faith  that  we  can  appreciate  the  guidance  of 
the  Lord  as  being  everything  that  an  enlightened  love  could 
desire  for  us.  When  we  have  made  ourselves  over  to  the  Lord 
and  to  his  guidance,  often  the  very  things  are  suffered  to  come 
upon  us  which  we  would  most  certainly  have  characterized  as 
evil.  We  are  prepared  for  trials ;  but  they  come  in  a  form 
that  we  should  have  thought  to  be  impossible.  We  had  formed 
some  particular  conception  of  the  goodness  of  God ;  settled  it 
in  our  minds  that  this  goodness  would  prompt  him  to  act  in  a 
certain  way  towards  us ;  when  lo,  we  find  him  acting  in  a  quite 
contrary  way ;  and  it  will  go  hard  if  the  thought  do  not  in- 
continently arise,  that  God  is  without  the  goodness  we  had  im- 
puted to  him,  and  that  our  faith  has  overshot  the  limits  of  the 
reality.  Oh,  what  a  dishonoring  thought !  As  though  we, 
imbecile  and  infatuated  worms,  could  invent  a  God  superior  to 
the  God  that  really  exists.  But  God  in  due  time,  if  we  pursue 
the  way  of  faith,  vindicates  himself  to  us.  Our  minds  are 
disabused  of  their  vain  fancies.  We  get  a  loftier  conception 
of  the  goodness  of  God.  A  foundation  is  laid  for  experiences 
of  a  far  more  blessed  kind  than  those  of  which  we  were  dis- 
appointed. 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  413 

Dp:cember  16. — "Ye  shall  seek  me,  and  find  me,  when  ye  shall  search 
for  me  with  all  your  heart." — Jeremiah  xxix.  13. 

A  reference  to  the  context  will  show  that  this  declaration  is 
intended  for  those  who  are  smarting  under  die  chastisements 
of  God ;  for  those  of  his  professing  people  who  have  brought 
upon  themselves  by  disobedience  and  worldliness,  the  rebuke 
of  the  Most  High.  Out  of  the  cloud  there  comes  a  voice 
telling  of  the  blue  sky  beyond  and  of  the  way  in  which  it  may 
become  visible.  The  blessings  connected  with  the  uplifted 
light  of  God's  countenance  are  not  to  be  recovered  by  those 
who  have  once  enjoyed  them,  save  by  a  whole-hearted,  intense, 
persevering,  all-sacrificing  search  for  them. 

It  has  pleased  God  at  various  times  in  the  history  of  his 
Church,  to  bestow  upon  her  some  distinguishing  tokens  of  his 
regard.  Legitimately  these  should  have  had  no  other  effect 
than  to  make  her  more  humble,  more  self-mistrusting,  more 
zealous,  more  earnest  in  the  pursuit  of  perfection.  But  often 
a  different  result  has  been  witnessed.  She  has  plumed  herself 
upon  these  as  constituting  a  glory  of  her  own ;  or  she  has 
rested  satisfied  with  these,  so  as  not  to  long  for  something  bet- 
ter and  more  essential ;  or  she  made  light  of  them  as  though 
there  were  nothing  special  about  them.  Then  God  has  re- 
voked the  blessings,  and  left  the  Church  to  her  denuded  and 
inglorious  state.  Thenceforward,  God  is  in  no  haste  to  bestow 
anew  what  has  been  so  deliberately  forfeited. 

He  is  wonderful  in  the  inflexibility  with  which  he  has  car- 
ried out  .this  principle.  The  distinct  understanding  of  it  would 
be  of  immense  benefit  to  the  Church  and  to  each  member  of 
the  Church.  Search  the  annals  of  the  Church.  Bring  tlie 
Church  as  she  now  is  into  contrast  with  the  Church  as  she 
once  was,  and  see  how  much  she  is  without.  Impute  it  not  to 
the  sovereignty  of  God,  to  an  arbitrary  and  unexplained  exer- 
cise of  his  royal  will,  that  we  languish  now  under  many  disa- 
bilities. The  privileges  that  have  been  witlidrawn  were  lost 
35  * 


414  DAILY    MEDITATIOXS. 

through  the  gross  and  culpable  negligence  of  the  Church. 
They  are  recoverable ;  for  the  promises  relating  to  them  have 
not  been  torn  out  of  the  Bible ;  but  they  are  only  to  be  re- 
covered by  a  whole-hearted,  fervent,  and  indomitable  travail 
at  the  throne  of  grace,  accompanied  with  a  thorough  consecra- 
tion to  his  wdJl.  "  If  the  salt  have  lost  its  savor,  wherewith 
shall  it  be  salted  ?"  is  a  text  that  might  utterly  discourage  us  j 
but  let  us  lay  hold  of  this  kind  and  loving  assurance  :  "  Ye 
shall  seek  me,  and  find  me.  when  ye  shall  search  for  me  with 
all  your  heart." 


December  17. — "As  the  earth  bringeth  forth  her  bud,  and  as  the  garden 
causeth  the  things  that  are  sown  in  it  to  spring  forth ;  so  the  Lord  God 
will  cause  righteousness  and  praise  to  spring  forth  before  all  the  nations." 
— Isaiah  Ixi.  11. 

Isaiah  had  a  vision  of  the  Lord  upon  his  throne  surrounded 
by  the  seraphim ;  and  the  seraphim  seem  to  have  had  a  vision 
of  the  renewed  earth,  of  what  it  shall  be  in  the  day  when  the 
glory  of  Christ  shall  be  everywhere  perceived,  and  when  there 
shall  be  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God.  We  are  yet 
but  in  the  seed-time ;  but  it  is  interesting  to  observe  that  the 
seed  is  carried  to  all  shores  and  scattered  among  all  nations, 
and  that  everything  is  fast  hastening  to  the  hour  when,  at  the 
new  creating  voice  of  God,  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  shall 
become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ,  and  when 
righteousness  and  praise  shall  fill  the  face  of  the  whole  earth. 
A  nation  shall  be  born  in  a  day ;  the  whole  earth  shall  bring 
forth  at  once. 

Were  it  not  that  men  are  accustomed  to  behold  just  such  a 
transformation,  nothing  would  seem  more  idle  or  preposterous 
than  the  expectation  that  beautiful  and  odoriferous  and  fruitful 
trees  and  shrubs,  should  spring  from  the  earth  as  a  result  of 
the  scattering  of  sundry  seeds  therein.  How  utterly  unlikely 
to  the  eye  of  sense,  or  to  the  imperfect  vision  of  infantile 


DAILY    MEDITATIONS.  415 

faith,  does  It  appear  that  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  the  poor 
and  checkered  attempts  to  make  known  God's  despised  word 
of  life,  should  ever  eventuate  in  the  imparadising  of  earth. 
Of  itself  it  will  not.  God  gives  it  an  opportunity  to  show 
what  it  can  itself  do ;  and  the  hours  of  this  protracted  oppor- 
tunity, how  heavy,  how  almost  insupportable  to  him  who  longs 
to  behold  the  glory  of  God  in  the  land  of  the  living !  But 
the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  to  inherit  all  nations,  and  ex- 
tinguish all  rule  that  is  not  of  him,  hath  an  absolute  connec- 
tion with  the  attempts  of  his  people  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature. 

December  IS. — ''Whither  the  forerurmer  is  for  i;s  entered,  even  Jesus." 
Hebrews  vi.  20. 

"We  have  an  anchor  of  the  soul,  even  hope;  and  that  hope 
is  within  the  veil,  where  Jesus  is.  With  Jesus  the  hope  of 
the  believer  hath  soared  from  earth  and  made  its  home  in  the 
heaven  of  heavens;  and  the  presence  of  our  hope  there  is  the 
pledge  of  our  own  future  presence  there.  How  flattering,  de- 
lusive, treacherous,  is  earthl}^  hope.  What  horrid  wounds  it 
inflicts  upon  the  heart  that  it  pretends  to  bless.  How  it  spreads 
its  imitation  heaven*  around,  even  where  deadly  miasmas  ex- 
hale. But  when  we  escape  the  wiles  of  this  enemy,  and  be- 
come acquainted  with  the  hope  that  beams  upon  us  from  the 
loving  eyes  of  him  who  is  extended  on  the  cross,  then  may  we 
be  glad  With  exceeding  joy.  Here  is  a  hope  that  nothing  can- 
injure.  It  died  in  Christ  only  to  live  forever  in  a  region  where 
there  is  no  death.  Our  hope  ascended  up  with  him  and  met 
with  him  a  welcome  from  the  angels.  We  are  already  anchored 
at  the  throne  of  God. 


December  19. — "The  Lord  shall  be  unto  thee  an  everlasting  light,  and 
thy  God  thy  glory." — Isaiah  Ix.  19. 

There  comcth  a  time  when  the  hidden  relations  now  existing 


416  DAILY    iMEDITATIONS. 

between  the  Cliurch  and  her  God,  shall  be  altogether  manifest; 
■when  the  tabernacle  of  God  shall  be  with  men ;  when  the 
Church  shall  be  clear  as  the  sun,  fair  as  the  moon,  and  terrible 
as  an  army  with  banners.  She  will  possess  not  solely  an  in- 
ward glory  in  her  purity  and  moral  resemblance  to  her  Re- 
deemer, but  the  glory  of  God,  even  the  heavenly  glory  that 
dazzles  the  seraphim,  shall  invest  her  with  an  inconceivable 
splendor.  No  longer  in  his  humiliation  and  in  discredited  di- 
vinity will  Christ  dwell  in  the  midst  of  his  little  flock,  as  when 
on  the  earth  in  his  flesh.  No  longer  discernible  as  now  only 
by  the  power  of  the  Spirit  and  by  the  eye  of  faith,  he  will 
then  dwell  among  them  in  the  glory  which  he  had  before  the 
world  was ;  nay,  with  an  enhanced  glory.  They  shall  see  his 
face  and  his  name  shall  be  in  their  foreheads.  The  sun  him- 
self shall  have  no  glory  by  reason  of  the  glory  that  excelleth, 
when  mortality  shall  have  been  swallowed  up  in  life,  when 
Christ  shall  be  glorified  in  his  saints  and  admired  in  every  one 
that  believeth,  when  the  righteous  shall  shine  forth  as  the  sun 
in  the  kingdom  of  their  Father. 


December  20. — "  I  have  set  the  Lord  always  before  me." — Psalm  xvL  8. 

The  habit  of  mind  that  is  here  indicated  is  very  important, 
very  rare,  and  very  hard  to  be  attained.  Every  Christian  no 
doubt  perceives,  though  more  distinctly  at  certain  times  than 
at  others,  how  exceedingly  desirable  it  is  that  he  should  have 
a  continual  consciousness  of  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and 
what  a  grievous  loss  he  is  sustaining  all  the  time  that  his  Spirit 
forgets  to  realize  that  presence.  And  if  he  could  attain  unto 
this  sublime  habit  of  the  soul  by  any  single  impulse  and  con- 
centrated efi'ort,  he  would  put  forth  the  needed  violence  and 
take  possession  of  this  blessed  kingdom.  But  habits  are  not 
acquired  in  this  way  even  when  the  Spirit  of  God  is  the 
teacher.     He  is  indeed  a  wondrous  teacher,  and  is  able  to  give 


DAILY   MEDITATIOXS.  417 

a  rapid  acceleration  to  all  tlie  movements  of  the  soul ;  and  to 
accomplish  in  weeks  what  would  be  wonderful  in  threescore 
years  or  a  thousand  years.  Therefore  there  need  be  no  despair : 
but  let  us  distinctly  understand  the  way  in  which  he  works, 
in  order  that  there  may  be  co  operation  on  our  part  and  not 
hindrance. 

Let  us  have  it  fully  impressed  upon  our  minds  that  the  life 
to  which  the  Lord  is  calling  us,  is  not  a  life  of  occasional  com- 
munion, of  interspersed  prayer,  of  pious  seasons,  but  a  life  of 
unbroken  communication  with  Grod,  of  never-interrupted  co- 
operation with  Christ.  "  Without  me  ye  can  do  nothing." 
•'  Whatsoever  ye  do  in  word  or  deed,  do  all  to  the  glory  of 
God."  "  Abide  in  me."  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always."  Be- 
sides so  many  declarations  of  the  word,  there  is  the  continual 
testimony  of  our  experiendTe,  the  testimony  of  our  many  mis- 
takes, and  follies  and  embarrassments,  assuring  us  that  we  can 
of  our  own  selves  do  nothiiig.  For  what  we  do  without  the 
Lord  we  do  disobediently ;  and  this  single  fact  stamps  it  with 
a  certain  measure  of  opprobrium,  no  matter  how  commendable 
it  might  seem  from  other  points  of  view.  On  the  other  hand 
whatever  we  do  with  the  Lord,  has  an  everlasting  value ;  it 
may  be  but  the  tying  of  a  shoe-string,  yet  if  it  be  done  in 
faith  and  in  an  enlightened  dependence,  as  in  the  very  pres- 
ence of  the  Lord,  it  has  a  value  that  no  vicissitudes  of  time 
can  ever  destroy.  The  will  of  the  Lord  abideth  forever;  and 
whatever  is  done  with  a  right  reference  to  that  will,  is  celestial 
in  character,  immortal  in  destiny. 

Let  us  enthrone  in  our  minds  this  great  truth,  that  nothing 
whatever  is  insignificant  when  a  relation  between  it  and  God 
is  perceived.  Life  is  profane  because  men  choose  that  it  shall 
be  so,  by  disconnecting  it  from  God;  not  because  God  has 
chosen  that  it  be  so.  Christ  lived  a  human  life,  and  there 
were  every  day  thousands  of  trifling  secularities  in  that  life, 
as  you  perhaps  may  designate  them ;  but  all  was  exalted,  all 


418  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

was  sacred,  according  to  the  judgment  of  heaven.  And  he 
that  is  filled  with  the  fulness  of  Grod,  he  in  whose  heart  Christ 
abideth  by  faith,  is  careful  all  the  day  long  lest  any  little  thing 
divorce  him  from  his  Lord.  He  sets  the  Lord  always  before 
him ;  he  seeks  to  see  ever  the  vision  that  Isaiah  saw  in  the 
temple. 


December  21. — "I  will  pour  my  Spirit  upon  thy  seed,  and  my  blessing 
upon  thine  offspring." — Isaiah  xliv.  3. 

"  Let  little  children  come  unto  me,"  said  Christ,  and  says  it 
still.  Grod  delighteth  in  mercy ;  and  delights  in  the  hearts  of 
little  children  because  there  is  a  greater  readiness  in  them  to 
receive  his  mercy  than  in  adults.  There  are  fewer  hindrances; 
less  to  repel  the  Spirit  of  God ;  less  of  the  world.  The  world 
is  indeed  there,  and  it  develop*  itself  with  an  astonishing 
rapidity  -,  oh,  then,  how  great  the  responsibility  of  those  who 
have  the  direction  of  the  young.  How  knowest  thou,  0  pa- 
rent, but  that  the  Lord  has  called  thee  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  truth  very  specially  for  this  end,  that  thou  mightest  lend 
thyself  to  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  matter  of  educating  that 
child  for  the  courts  of  the  New  Jerusalem. 

There  is  no  need  that  any  truth  should  be  deposited  in  the 
mind  of  the  child  before  religious  truth.  In  fact,  truth  is 
mutilated  when  it  is  taken  away  from  religion.  The  truths 
of  religion  are  difficult  and  mysterious  to  the  man,  because  he 
started  in  life  and  passed  through  infancy  and  childhood  with- 
out them.  It  is  easier  for  a  child  to  learn  the  momentous  truth 
that  "  of  Him,  through  him,  and  to  him  are  all  things,"  than 
it  is  for  a  person  of  mature  years.  How  much  unfaithfulness 
must  there  be  in  parents  and  guardians,  even  in  those  whom 
we  esteem  believers,  when  their  children  exhibit  so  little  of 
the  Spirit's  influences.  The  blessing  of  the  Lord,  as  we  learn 
from  other  passages  of  Scripture,  allies  itself  with  the  teach- 
ings and  efforts  and  prayers  of  parents. 


DAILY    xMEDITATIONS.  419 

With  tlie  influences  of  the  parent  there  are  soon  commin- 
gled a  multitude  of  other  influences ;  wherefore  it  is  of  the 
more  urgency,  that  the  tenderest  years  should  be  improved. 
The  enemy  will  quickly  sow  tares,  if  you  do  not  pre-occupy 
the  soil  with  the  seed  of  life. 


December  22. — "Let  all  flesli  bless  his  holy  name  forever." — Psalm 
cxlv.  21. 

There  is  such  a  revelation  of  the  holiness  of  God  in  all 
places  of  his  dominion,  that  it  is  the  manifest  duty  of  all  men 
to  look  to  him  alone  and  to  give  thanks  at  the  remembrance 
of  his  holiness.  For  he  is  righteous  in  all  his  ways  and  holy 
in  all  his  works,  and  not  merely  in  the  work  of  man's  redemp- 
tion. There  is  no  idolater  who  is  not  compassed  about  by  the 
tokens  of  the  unity  and  holiness  of  God.  God  does  not  lay 
aside  any  of  his  perfections  when  he  works  his  wondrous  will 
in  heathen  lands.  He  is  what  he  is,  in  every  act  that  he  does. 
And  every  one  is  responsible  for  failing  to  discern  his  true 
nature. 

But  it  was  especially  perhaps  in  view  of  the  Gospel  of  God's 
infinite  grace,  to  be  proclaimed  by  every  creature,  that  the 
Psalmist  calls  upon  the  whole  human  family  to  bless  the  holy 
name  of  God.  Let  all  flesh  bless  the  holy  name  of  him  who 
so  loved  the  world  as  to  give  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  who- 
soever believeth  might  live.  But  even  this  sufficeth  not.  Men 
hear  of  this  love  unmoved.  The  Gospel  is  proclaimed,  yet 
the  empire  of  the  God  of  this  world  continues.  There  is  more 
in  God's  scheme  of  mercy  to  mankind.  The  Spirit  shall  be 
poured  upon  all  flesh ;  then  shall  all  bless  his  holy  name  for- 
ever. 

"  Hallowed  be  thy  name,  thy  kingdom  come,  thy  will  be 
done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven  j"  these  are  the  petitions  that 
break  instinctively  from  the  lips  of  the  believer.     We  see  that 


420  DAILY   MEDITATIONS. 

the  men  of  God,  the  prophets  that  lived  so  long  before  the 
days  of  Christ,  had  already  a  missionary  spirit,  and  offered  up 
prayers  in  behalf  of  missions  while  yet  the  middle  wall  of 
partition  stood  strong  and  consolidated. 


December  23. — "Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way  and  the  unrighteous 
man  his  thoughts,  and  let  him  return  unto  the  Lord." — Isaiah  Iv.  7. 

The  following  reason  is  assigned,  why  he  should  forsake  his 
ways  and  thoughts  : — "  For  my  thoughts  are  not  your  thoughts, 
neither  are  your  ways  my  ways.  For  as  the  heavens  are  higher 
than  the  earth,  so  are  my  ways  higher  than  your  ways,  and  my 
thoughts  than  your  thoughts."  Man  will  have  it  that  his  way, 
his  designs,  his  plans,  his  theory  of  life,  are  better  than  those 
of  Grod.  Grod's  scheme  of  human  life  is  published  everywhere 
and  brought  before  the  notice  of  all ;  but  all  disdain  it ;  they 
do  not  consider  it  any  improvement  upon  their  own.  The  way 
of  righteousness,  of  self-denial,  of  faith,  has  no  attraction  for 
them. 

But  really  the  way  that  Grod  has  marked  out  for  man  is  in 
every  respect  sublime  and  worthy  of  its  author ;  and  if  man 
had  walked  therein  he  would  have  been  angelic  in  dignity, 
wisdom,  power  and  happiness.  The  intention  of  God  regard- 
ing man  includes  his  investiture  with  every  grace  and  perfec- 
tion. The  thought  of  God  is  that  man  should  set  his  affection 
on  things  above ;  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  Christ  with  all 
love  and  loyalty ;  and  be,  each  one  in  his  particular  province, 
a  benefactor  to  mankind.  Alongside  of  this  most  elevated  yet 
most  suitable  standard,  how  mean  and  grovelling  appear  the 
actual  ways  of  men,  how  base  and  earthly  their  thoughts.  For 
so  many  thousands  of  years  they  have  gone  floundering  on  in 
the  mad  quest  of  happiness,  obstinately  seeking  it  where  God 
has  told  them  they  shall  find  nothing  but  misery.  The  wonder 
is  that  God  should  invite  them  to  return ;  that  instead  of  leav- 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  421 

ing  them  to  the  fruits  of  tlieir  own  choice  he  should  provide 
for  them  a  way  whereby  they  may  regain  the  highway  of  holi- 
ness. 


December 24. — "Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit." — Acts  vii.  59. 

Christ,  on  the  cross,  out  of  the  deep  gulf  of  woe  into  which, 
by  the  sins  of  the  world,  he  found  himself  sinking,  cried  out 
in  anguish,  "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?" 
and,  receiving  strength  in  his  soul,  he  soon  exclaimed  with 
expiring  breath,  "  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my 
spirit."  He  tasted  death ;  tasted  far  more  of  it  than  the  be- 
liever is  called  to  do ;  and  knew  the  blessedness  of  having  one 
to  look  to  in  his  expiring  hour.  Well  knows  he  therefore  how 
precious  it  is  to  have  an  almighty  friend  in  the  darkness  of 
such  an  hour.  The  believer  may  look  with  unwavering  confi- 
dence, as  always,  so  in  his  last  earthly  moments,  to  him  who 
knows  so  well  what  death  is. 

Imagine  a  company  of  men  pursuing  another,  reviling  him, 
stoning  him,  and  driving  him  towards  a  frightful  cavern. 
Amidst  their  imprecations  he  enters  it ;  and  as  a  stone  is  rolled 
upon  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  his  enemies  rejoice  greatly  in  their 
victory.  You  shudder  as  you  think  of  the  wretched  lot  of 
that  castaway.  But  know  that  in  the  very  moment  when  that 
stone  was  rolled  upon  the  cavern's  mouth,  a  marvellous  trans- 
formation took  place.  The  cavern  became  a  palace ;  a  multi- 
tude of  happy  and  radiant  beings  flocked  around  your  perse- 
cuted friend,  and  leading  him  up  flights  of  noble  stairways 
conducted  him  to  a  throne  and  crowned  him  with  a  diadem. 
The  crowd  without  are  congratulating  themselves  upon  having 
driven  the  object  of  their  hatred  into  everlasting  night  and 
solitude ;  how  surprised  will  they  be  hereafter,  should  the  stone 
and  the  rock  flee  away  and  the  hated  one  be  seen  upon  a  throne 
surrounded  by  a  troop  of  exalted  friends. 

God  is  constructing  paradise  out  of  the  rejected  elements  of 


422  DAILY   MEDITATIONS 

this  world.  Christ  first ;  then  they  that  believe  in  him  and 
suffer  with  him.  They  are  in  the  estimation  of  men,  the 
refuse  of  humanity.  Not  only  when  Stephen  died,  but  on  a 
thousand  occasions  since,  the  rejoicings  of  men  in  the  death 
of  the  saints  have  been  heard  on  the  one  side,  and  on  the 
other  side  the  glad  acclamations  of  the  angelic  host  welcoming 
them  to  glory,  honor,  and  immortality. 


December  25. — "  Unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a  son  is  given  :  and 
his  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful." — Isaiah  ix.  6. 

At  the  very  outset,  the  mother  of  mankind  was  informed 
that  she  was  also  to  be  the  mother  of  some  wondrous  being 
who  would  snatch  the  race  from  the  condition  incurred  by  sin. 
Prophet  after  prophet  arose,  spoke  of  this  future  personage, 
sighed  for  his  advent  and  passed  away.  How  astonished  must 
the  Hebrew  readers  of  Isaiah  have  been  at  the  description 
given  by  him  of  the  coming  man.  A  child,  a  son  of  man ; 
given  to  us  and  of  us ;  yet  so  wonderful  in  his  nature  that  you 
may  ascribe  to  him  all  the  perfections  of  the  godhead.  Wo 
know  that  God  will  not  give  his  glory  to  another ;  this  child 
of  humanity  is  then  no  other  than  Grod  himself,  the  mighty 
Grod,  the  Father  of  Ages. 

Here  is  something  that  never  would  have  entered  into  ih.e 
conception  of  any  man,  even  the  wisest  or  the  boldest.  But 
supposing  that  men,  having  been  led  to  look  for  such  an  in- 
credible event  as  the  birth  of  Grod  in  the  line  of  fallen  man, 
had  undertaken  to  surmise  what  would  be  his  manner  of  life 
on  the  earth,  how  different  would  all  their  fantasies  have  been 
from  the  reality.  They  would  have  made  the  deity  overshadow 
the  humanity,  so  that  there  would  be  no  proper  manifestation 
of  this.  But  the  humanity  of  Christ  remains  in  its  integrity, 
and  there  is  a  perfect  revelation  of  the  two  natures  without 
the  least  encroachment  of  the  One  upon  the  other.     And  in 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  423 

him  we  see  how  this  hunicanity  of  ours  may  become  wedded  to 
divinity  so  that  the  latter  may  be  exhibited  through  the  me- 
dium of  the  former,  and  in  ten  thousand  acts  and  words  there 
be  an  uncommingled  operation  both  of  God  and  of  the  crea- 
ture. "  That  they  also  may  be  one  in  us,  as  thou  Father  art 
in  me,  and  I  in  thee/' 


December  26. — "  He  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  the  broken-hearted." — 
Isaiah  Ixi.  1. 

Happy  is  he  whose  heart  is  broken  in  such  a  sense  that  he 
will  no  longer  expect  from  earth  what  earth  cannot  give,  and 
who  is  in  despair  of  all  below  the  sky.  Yes ;  though  he  may 
esteem  himself  the  most  wretched  of  beings,  and  though  he 
indeed  have  sorrows  far  more  poignant  than  those  of  other 
men.  Other  men  do  not  discover  their  true  misery,  their  true 
bankruptcy,  and  do  not  so  intensely  feel  their  need  of  a  special 
provision  sent  from  the  throne  of  God.  They  are  reconciled 
to  the  sterilities  of  the  world.  But  this  one  is  broken-hearted 
because  he  found  as  he  imagined  some  heaven,  in  contrast  with 
which  the  wilderness  condition  of  the  world  came  out  very 
distinctly ;  and  when  his  oasis  vanished  he  found  himself  un- 
utterably and  hopelessly  ruined.  So  he  thought:  until  he 
heard  a  voice  saying,  "  If  any  man  thirst  let  him  come  unto 
me  and  drink.  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy- 
laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  Why  will  ye  die  ?  Is  there 
no  balm  in  Gilead  ?  No  physician  of  the  soul  ?  No  fountain 
opened  ?     Christ's  heart  was  broken,  that  yours  might  he  bound 

Tip-  

December  27. — "  He  was  numbered  with  the  transgressors." — Isaiah 
liii.  12. 

That  glorious  being  whom  Isaiah  saw  upon  a  throne,  high 
and  lifted  up,  surrounded  by  the  enraptured  seraphim,  left  his 
throne  at  a  time  appointed  and  taking  the  form  of  man  came 


424  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

into  this  every-day  world  of  ours' and  dwelt  among. us.  What 
was  his  reception  ?  Did  not  every  knee  bow  and  every  tongue 
confess  that  he  was  Lord  ?  If  he  had  come  in  power  and  in 
majesty,  with  undeniable  and  irresistible  glory,  such  a  reception 
perhaps  would  have  awaited  him.  Men  would  have  fallen  be- 
fore him  and  given  him  at  least  external  homage.  But  this 
was  not  what  he  sought.  His  moral  attributes  are  his  true 
glory.  It  is  in  his  truth,  wisdom,  goodness,  purity,  and  con- 
descension that  he  is  distinguished  from  the  gods  of  the  hea- 
then, rather  than  in  omnipotence  and  omniscience.  These  are 
not  so  much  attributes  of  his  character  as  of  his  position.  He 
would  be  served  not  because  he  is  all-mighty,  but  because  he 
is  good,  holy,  and  condescending.  Therefore  he  came  into  the 
v/orld  in  a  manner  that  permitted  the  fullest  manifestation  of 
his  character;  and  if  his  power  and  majesty  were  in  some 
measure  veiled,  it  was  in  order  that  there  might  be  a  more 
perfect  revelation  of  his  moral  perfections.  There  was  then 
seen  in  the  family  of  man  one  being  in  whom  dwelt  all  the 
fulness  of  the  Godhead. 

Tell  us  now,  what  was  his  reception  ?  He  was  numbered 
among  the  transgressors.  Instead  of  saying,  "Here  is  a  being 
of  wondrous  excellence,  angelic  in  purity,  heavenly  in  nature;" 
instead  of  saying  even,  "  Here  is  a  good  man ;"  men  said  un- 
hesitatingly and  unblushingly,  "  This  is  a  bad  man ;  one  with 
whom  we  cannot  associate;  an  impious  being,  violating  the 
most  sacred  laws ;  blaspheming  the  most  holy  things ;  profan- 
ing the  Sabbath ;  consorting  with  the  vile ;  overthrowing  the 
faith  of  many ;  a  dangerous  man,  a  transgressor  of  the  deepest 
dye,  one  that  must  be  hunted  from  the  bosom  of  society,  one 
that  must  be  as  soon  as  possible  sent  out  of  this  world."  Yes, 
they  decided  that  any  other  man,  though  he  were  a  Barabbas, 
might  live ;  on  any  other  man  the  sun  might  shine,  the  wind 
might  blow,  the  ordinary  bounties  of  heaven  descend;  but 
upon  this  one,  never ;  the  earth  cannot  bear  the  burden  of 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  425 

him.  However  contemptible  an  opinion  a  man  may  haye  had 
of  himself,  yet  could  he  loudly  and  passionately  cry,  "  Away 
with  this  Jesus,  crucify  him,  it  is  not  fit  that  he  should  live 
where  I  live  !" 

Thus  the  world  was  tried ;  thus  its  bitter  and  inveterate 
hostility  to  God  was  detected ,  thus  did  it  become  manifest 
that  Satan  was  the  god  of  this  world.  And  are  things  altered  ? 
No  !  Those  who  rejected  Christ  had  no  special  venom  in  their 
hearts.  They  were  average  specimens  of  humanity.  In  what- 
ever generation  Christ's  lowly  advent  might  have  taken  place, 
he  would  have  been  numbered  among  the  transgressors.  Those 
that  make  the  nearest  approach  to  him  in  character,  those  that 
live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus,  they  suffer  persecution,  they  are 
reckoned  as  flagrant  transgressors.  In  fact  every  generation 
has  had  the  opportunity  given,  and  has  had  it  not  in  vain,  to 
show  what  it  thought  of  Christ.  Oh,  what  a  fearful  exhibition 
of  the  corruption  and  blindness  of  man  is  given  in  the  state- 
ment that  God  came  into  the  world,  and  was  numbered  with 
the  transgressors  and  put  to  a  shameful  death ! 


December  28. — "  So  shall  my  word  be  that  goeth  forth  out  of  my  mouth ; 
it  shall  not  return  unto  me  void." — Isaiah  Iv.  11. 

A  vast  deal  of  rain  falls  upon  the  sea ;  a  great  deal  upon 
the  desert ;  upon  immense  tracts  of  earth  where  there  is  no 
cultivation  ]  it  is  in  fact  but  a  comparatively  small  part  of  the 
snow  and  rain  that  yearly  descend  from  the  skies,  that  is  made 
instrumental  in  the  fertilization  of  the  earth.  Yet  who  will 
say  that  the  rain  and  snow  descend  in  vain  ?  In  many  regions 
yet  unvisited,  the  rain  that  periodically  falls  is  an  invitation  to 
man  to  go  forth  and  fulfil  his  mission,  to  subdue  the  earth,  to 
co-operate  with  the  providential  processes  of  God  in  making 
the  wilderness  to  blossom  as  the  rose,  and  to  plant  groves  of 
myrtle  trees  where  briars  and  thorns  now  abound.  If  men 
36  * 


426  DAILY    MEDITATIOIn\S. 

choose  to  congregate  in  immense  numbers  in  the  narrow  con- 
fines of  cities,  leaving  the  earth  unsubdued  and  unreplenishcd, 
at  least  G  od  will  show  that  he  is  not  wanting  to  the  earth. 
The  res23onsibility  of  most  of  the  desolations  of  earth,  is  with 
man. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  Grod's  word  is  abundantly  pro- 
claimed without  saving  results.  Out  of  a  thousand  hearers 
one  is  affected ;  and  he  that  hears  it  once  with  the  heart's 
response,  hears  it  with  insensibility  a  thousand  times.  But 
imagine  an  army  sent  forth  with  an  assurance  of  victory;  it 
may  be  that  thousands  of  javelins  are  hurled  without  result; 
that  there  are  many  repulses  from  this  and  that  fortification ; 
many  unsuccessful  skirmishes ;  but  the  expedition  is  at  length 
crowned  with  success^nd  when  it  returns,  returns  victorious. 
The  multitude  of  unsuccessful  endeavors  preceding  the  final 
triumph  only  served  to  display  the  prowess  of  the  enemy  and 
the  severity  of  the  strife;  and  thus  to  enhance  the  value  of 
the  victory. 

God's  word  shall  not  return  to  him  void.  It  shall  accom- 
plish that  whereto  he  has  sent  it.  For  it  is  to  be  borne  in 
mind  that  there  are  mighty  resources  in  the  word  of  God,  and 
that  it  can  at  any  time  summon  to  its  aid  twelve  legions  of 
angels.  For  instance  amon^j  the  words  of  God  are  these : — 
Ask  of  me  and  I  will  show  thee  great  and  mighty  things  which 
thou  hast  not  known.  Omnipotence  is  with  it.  Let  the  faith 
of  those  who  have  the  word  be  only  adequate,  and  it  will  clothe 
itself  with  all  the  strength  of  God.  Christ,  who  has  all  power 
in  heaven  and  earth,  holds  that  power  in  behalf  of  his  word 
militant.  The  works  that  I  do,  shall  the  believer  do;  and 
greater  works :  whatever  he  shall  ask,  I  will  do  it. 

In  the  mean  time,  we  see  how  terrible  is  the  power  of  tlie 
adversary ;  how  strongly  fortified  in  its  sin  is  the  world ;  how 
absolute  the  need  of  omnipotence  to  bring  the  kingdoms  of 
this  world  into  subjection  to  Christ.     We  know  not  the  word 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  427 

we  fight  with ;  we  are  ignorant  of  the  resources  placed  at  our 
command;  and  our  battling  is  languid  and  lifeless,  like  that 
of  soldiers  who  are  waiting  for  their  lord. 


December  29. — "  The  redeemed  of  the  Lord  shall  return  and  come  with 
singing  unto  Zion,  and  everlasting  joy  shall  be  upon  their  head." — Isaiah 
li.  11. 

Time  and  again  the  Lord  brought  back  his  ancient  people 
from  captivity,  even  those  that  valued  the  liberty  of  returning; 
and  each  time  perhaps  they  thought  it  was  the  final  redemption 
of  which  the  prophets  had  spoken  such  glorious  things,  and 
were  looking  for  crowns  of  everlasting  joy.  But  in  the  times 
preceding  the  first  advent  of  the  Messiah  they  discovered  by 
bitter  experience  that  it  was  possible  for  them  to  be  enslaved 
even  in  their  own  land,  in  the  midst  of  .Srusalem,  in  the  courts 
of  the  temple ;  to  be  enslaved  by  efews,  by  high-priests ;  and 
to  be  as  wretched  in  Zion  as  ever  they  had  been  in  Babylon. 
In  the  days  of  Christ  how  sadly  were  they  oppressed.  Not 
by  the  Eomans;  Christ  scarcely  made  any  allusion  to  them, 
knowing  that  the  Jews  were  sufi"ering  from  a  far  severer  bond- 
age. He  made  known  to  them  the  true  Zion  of  refuge  and 
the  true  redemption,  when  he  said  "  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that 
labor  and  are  heavy-laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest." 

The  redeemed  of  the  Lord  shall  return,  effectually  redeemed 
from  all  iniquity,  triumphant  over  sin  and  misery,  crowned  with 
glory,  honor,  and  immortality.  If  you  ask,  when?  I  reply 
that  it  shall  be  in  the  day  when  the  New  Jerusalem  cometh 
down  from  Grod  out  of  heaven,  and  in  the  day  when  the  mani- 
festation of  the  sons  of  God  taketh  place.  "  Ye  are  not  in  dark- 
ness that  that  day  should  overtake  you  as  a  thief." 


December  30. — "  Prepare  to  meet  thy  God." — Amos  iv.  12. 
For  thou  must  meet  him.     The  only  uncertainty  relates  tc 


428  DAILY    MEDITATIONS. 

the  time ;  and  even  that  uncertainty  does  not  exist  in  the  mind 
of  God.  It  is  not  more  true  that  God  is,  than  that  thou  shalt 
stand  before  him.  Thou  art  flurried  and  agitated  at  the  thought 
of  going  into  the  presence  of  some  fellow-man  clothed  with 
authority;  and  wilt  thou  make  no  preparation  to  meet  thy 
God  ?  The  companion  with  whom  thou  wert  feasting  yester- 
day, received  his  summons  in  the  night.  Inquiring  for  another 
this  morning  thou  wert  informed  of  his  recent  departure.  Al- 
most every  hour  some  one  is  called  from  thy  neighborhood  into 
the  presence  of  God,  and  thy  turn  will  surely  come. 

Life  is  given  that  thou  mayest  prepare  to  meet  thy  God. 
Thy  path  is  crowded  with  monitors  that  seek  to  arouse  thee  to 
a  sense  of  the  awful  future  so  fast  hastening.  The  winds  whis- 
per it ;  the  skies  pr^aim  it ;  the  earth  mutters  it ;  the  moun- 
tains repeat  it;  all  me,  all  change,  all  beauty,  all  joy,  and  all 
Borrow  breathe  this  admonition,  "  Prepare  to  meet  thy  God." 

He  is  tJiT/  God.  He  made  thee,  gave  thee  all  thy  powers, 
all  thine  opportunities,  gave  thee  a  work  to  do,  and  the  means 
of  doing  it.  He  will  have  a  multitude  of  questions  to  ask 
thee ;  alas  !  that  I  should  say  it,  he  will  have  a  multitude  of 
charges  to  bring  against  thee.  Thou  hast  heard  his  thunder  in 
the  skies ;  thinkest  thou  he  is  not  able  to  clothe  himself  with 
unendurable  terrors,  or  thinkest  thou  he  will  forbear  to  do  it  ? 
Thinkest  thou  that  God  will  never  make  so  much  of  thee,  an 
insignificant,  ephemeral,  helpless  being,  as  to  set  thee  up  on 
high  before  him,  and  deal  with  thee  as  an  object  for  his  wrath, 
his  vengeance,  his  fiery  indignation  ?  The  thought  is  utterly 
delusive.  Since  God  has  made  so  much  of  thee  as  to  fashion 
and  endow  thee  wonderfully,  to  create  a  world  of  beauty  and 
splendor  for  thy  habitation,  a  sun  to  light  thee  by  day,  and 
stars  to  shine  for  thee  by  night ;  since  he  has  treated  thee  as 
a  being  of  great  consequence  by  giving  his  word  to  be  thy 
guide,  and  above  all  by  giving  his  Son  to  die  for  thee,  think 
not  that  thou  shalt  escape  his  notice  in  the  great  day  of  a<> 


DAILY   MEDITATIONS.  429 

count.  Thou  hast  made  war  upon  the  universe  of  God ;  thou 
hast  sought  to  make  him  contemptible  in  the  eyes  of  his  crea- 
tures by  despising  his  commands  and  discarding  his  authority. 
The  interests  of  the  entire  universe  demand  that  there  be  a 
meeting  between  thee  and  God,  and  that  it  be  distinctly  set- 
tled, who  is  in  the  right,  God  thy  Creator  and  Governor,  or 
thou  his  rebellious  creature. 


December  31. — "Even  so,  come,  Lord  Jesus." — Revelation  xxii.  20. 

This  prayer  of  the  beloved  disciple  is  his  legacy  to  the 
church.  Being  permitted  to  write  the  closing  words  of  Scrip- 
ture, he  finds  three  little  words  which  seem  to  him  expressive 
of  more  love  to  man,  and  to  comprehend  lilore  of  blessing  and 
advantage  to  the  world  than  any  numbeMF  other  words.  The 
prayer,  "  Come,  Lord  Jesus,'^  is  th^i^pitome  of  all  the  prayers 
that  the  behever  is  called  upon'tq^ofier.  It  is  a  prayer  for  the 
overthrow  of  Satan's  kingdom ;  for  the  extinction  of  sorrows, 
the  cessation  of  pain,  the  wiping  away  of  tears ;  for  the  de- 
scent of  the  New  Jerusalem ;  for  the  sanctification  and  perfec- 
tion of  saints ;  for  the  creating  anew  of  all  things ;  in  a  word, 
for  the  new  heaven  and  the  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth  right- 
eousness. 

To  be  indifferent  about  the  coming  of  Christ,  is  to  be  indif- 
ferent about  the  most  sacred  interests  of  humanity.  If  the 
apostles  looked  upon  the  advent  of  Christ  as  the  hope  of  the 
world,  and  knew  of  no  greater  benefit  that  they  could  bestow 
upon  mankind  than  to  offer  up  this  prayer  in  faith,  we  may 
well  adopt  their  sentiment  and  follow  their  example.  Let  this 
prayer  never  die  on  our  lips  while  we  have  breath :  "  Even  so, 
come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly  V 

THE   END. 


Date  Due 

DC  .  V  %'h 

■-     ■     -  ^. 

t-f — ^   /  t*L"j). 

'-  ^  U  D4 

.i:,;. 

! — 1 



...  1 

1 

1 

f 

i;W^- 


If**..  -_ 


-•-'*.  .M^ 


